Descents and Inversions
by The Altered Destinies
Summary: Future and Past collide as a magic locket with the power to travel through alternate realities and change them falls into the hands of Cologne and her great-great-great-granddaughter.


This is a Ranma fanfic, based off of some speculation from the fanfic newsgroup. It involves time travel, multiple dimensions, and the children of Ranma Saotome getting themselves into a great deal of trouble. _Descents and Inversions_ does get a bit confusing at times, but then, no one ever said time travel and the Ranmaverse were easy to understand. Just keep reading, and by the end you'll figure everything out. Hopefully, you'll even have fun.  
If you have any questions or comments, or need help with your math homework, I'm at rmckenzi .edu .

{B-{=_

Part One: Future Potential

It was a bright and sunny school day in Nerima. Two teenagers, schoolbags in hand, left a dojo and began to walk to Furinkan High School. One of them, a boy in a yellow sweater, was staring at the string tied around his right wrist. The other end was tied to the short-haired, well dressed girl walking beside him.  
"Tachi, this is embarrassing. What is someone sees me?"  
The girl turned to her companion. "Godai-kun, do you remember what happened the last time you tried to walk to school by yourself?"  
The boy frowned. Memories of wandering through a forest filled with giant animals came to mind.  
The girl persisted. "And do you remember what happened the last time I tried to walk you to school, Godai-kun?"  
Sweat began to bead up on the boy's face. Images of wandering through Tokyo forced themselves from the back of his mind.  
"Your mom is paying me to make sure you get to school on time. Nothing

else I've tried so far has worked. By hook or by crook, we will reach Furinkan High together, before the school bell rings." The girl stared at the cloudless sky and raised a clenched fist to the heavens. "So sayeth Tendo Tachi, the Shooting Star of Furinkan High!"  
In the distance, thunder rolled.  
"Nihao," cried a perky voice.  
Godai and Tachi looked around, but they couldn't find the speaker. Then Tachi looked up. A Chinese girl was standing _on_ the fence beside them, her hands on her hips. She was wearing a jumpsuit with cats on it, and her long, purple hair was tied in a tight braid that hung down her back. The newcomer studied Tachi and Godai openly.  
"Uh, hello there," Tachi said. Something about the girl seemed familiar, but she couldn't remember what.  
The girl jumped down from the fence and poked Godai in the chest. He stepped back, out of surprise and embarrassment.  
Tachi pushed herself between Godai and the newcomer. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.  
"Move out of way, nosy girl. This no concern you."  
"Uh, Tachi?" asked Godai.  
"Be quiet, Godai-kun," Tachi tossed over her shoulder. "I'll handle this." She turned back to the purple-haired girl. "What happens to Godai-kun does concern me! You leave him alone. He means a lot to me."  
Godai stared at his feet and blushed.  
"Besides," Tachi continued, "I have a lot of money riding on this."  
Godai face-faulted.  
The purple-haired girl cracked her knuckles as she made a fist. "If nosy girl not leave, nosy girl get hurt."  
"Tachi, I think I'd better-"  
"No! Leave this to me." The short-haired girl yanked her left arm, snapping the string that connected her to Godai. She slipped out of her jacket, tossed it to the boy, and then drew a long wooden sword that had been strapped to her back. "If we are to duel, it is only proper that I introduce myself." She extended her bokken towards her opponent. "I am Tendo Tachi, called by many the Shooting Star of Furinkan High!" Thunder crashed in a clodless sky.  
"I called Spring." She bowed to Tachi, then jump-kicked her.  
Tachi moved to block the attack, just like her father taught her. Something was wrong, though. Why had everything turned blue? It took the girl a moment to realize she was flat on her back, staring up at the sky.. Her nose hurt. "Wha?" Tachi used her sword to push herself to her feet.  
"Nosy girl persistent. Why she fight for boy?"  
Tachi blinked, trying to get her eyes to focus on the purple blob in front of her. "He is my cousin," she gasped.  
"Cousin?" The purple-haired girl thought for a minute. "Cousin is good."  
"Why is 'cousin' good?" Tachi wobbled a bit, still unsteady on her feet.  
"Fighting cousin less trouble than fighting fiancee." Tachi found herself on the ground again. She couldn't remember how she got there.  
"That's enough!" Godai cried. "You will pay for hurting Tachi!"  
"Not Spring fault nosy cousin get involved."  
"I don't care!" Godai shouted. He swung a punch at the Chinese girl.  
Spring caught his fist before his blow landed. Her violet eyes widened in surprise as she was knocked off her feet. She somersaulted in mid-air, manging to land in a crouch thirty feet away. "Boy very strong," she said. Then she rushed Godai.  
The boy bared his teeth in anger, showing his prominent fangs. He kicked at the girl, but Spring ducked under his leg. She worked up a throw, and this time Godai was the one to go flying down the street. He landed on his face.  
Spring frowned. "Boy very slow."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Godai charged at his tormenter, but Spring avoided all of his clumsy blows. "Stand still!"  
Spring stopped dodging, parried Godai's last punch, and kicked him in the face twice before he could do anything about it. Then, as he stood there, dazed, she threw him again.  
Spring stared at Godai's crumpled form. "Boy _too_ slow." She sounded disappointed. "Cute, but slow. Spring never find husband at this rate."  
She reached into her jumpsuit and pulled out a silver necklace. A heart-shaped pendant hung from the chain. "Stupid charm no work. Spring say, 'take me to find strong husband,' and this best locket do? Bah!" The purple-haired girl yanked at the locket. She snapped the chain with ease and was about to throw the charm away when it began to glow blue. "Charm not do that before."  
The world seened to spin. When it settled down, Godai and Tachi were gone. "Cute boy and nosy cousin run off when Spring not looking," she decided. "Now Spring keep looking for strong husband."

It was a normal morning in Nerima, if such a thing can be said to exist. Three boys, all of them students at Furinkan High, were late for school. They started jogging to make up for lost time. Every so often the boy in the yellow sweater would make a wrong turn. Whenever this happened the boy with the pig-tail braid would chase him down and correct his mistake. Then they would run even faster, which meant that the pig-tailed boy would have a harder time catching his friend the next time he went the wrong way.  
The third boy just watched. "You know, had we tied a string to his wrist as I suggested, this would not have happened."  
The pig-tailed boy panted, trying to catch his breath. "That's mean, Tachi. Godai-kun can't help it if he gets lost."  
Tachi brushed at the dust on his fine clothes. "Mean? Who cares about mean? We have money riding on our prompt arrival at school, Ryo-kun, or had the fact slipped your mind?"  
Godai frowned, sweat beading up on his forehead. Ryo saw how uncomfortable his friend was, and turned on Tachi. "Give it up, 'Shooting Star.' This isn't about money."  
Tachi stood up straight. "Everything is about money," he declared.  
Godai glared at the well-dressed boy, his fangs showing. "Tachi-kun, sometimes I think you'd sell your own mother if the price was right."  
Tachi frowned, and Ryo laughed. "Not his mother," said the pig-tailed boy. "She'd find away to come back and sell _him_. No, Tachi wouldn't sell his mother. A girlfriend, maybe, or a fiancee."  
"You need not flaunt the fact that you and Bell-chan are to be married," Tachi accused.  
Ryo sobered immediately. "I didn't mean to rub it in, Tachi-kun."  
"What's it like, being engaged?" asked Godai.  
"Pig-tail boy engaged? That cause problems," said a perky voice.  
The three boys looked around for the speaker. Ryo and Tachi looked up at the same time; there was a girl standing on the fence beside them. She was Chinese, with long, purple hair she wore in a braid.  
"What do you mean by that?" Ryo seemed suddenly defensive.  
The girl didn't answer right away. Instead she studied the three boys for a moment, then jumped down. "Why cute slow boy run away?" she asked Godai. He just stared at her blankly. Then he blushed.  
Tachi couldn't help but needle his friend. "Godai-kun, why did you not tell us you knew such a vision of loveliness?"  
Ryo would not be put off. "Who are you, and why is my Bell-chan a problem?" He spoke with a cold intensity that boded ill for the strange girl.  
"Fiancee usually get in way of marriage," the Chinese girl answered.  
"I have no intention of marrying you." Ryo spoke slowly.  
"I would marry you," declared Tachi.  
The girl stared at the well dressed boy. "Boy look like nosy cousin. Hope boy fight better than nosy cousin."  
"I, Tendo Tachi, the Shooting Star of Furinkan High, have never been defeated!" Thunder rolled in a cloudless sky.  
"Spring hope star boy live up to boast." She bowed to him, her hands pressed together in front of her chest. Then she jump-kicked him. Tachi went flying.  
That act of violence snapped Godai out of his blissful funk. He roared wordlessly, swinging a fist at Spring. She ducked under his blow with ease and threw him across the street. "Spring already beat cute slow boy."  
Ryo slowly made his hands into fists. "I don't know who you are, but I

won't let you beat up my friends."  
"Nay, Ryo! This battle belongs to me," cried Tachi. The boy had pushed himself to his feet and taken off his jacket, revealing a bokken strapped to his back. He drew his wooden blade and extended it towards the purple-haired girl. "You caught me by surprise once, oh treacherous goddess, but you shall not do so again." His soliloquy was spoiled only by the footprint across his face.  
"Star boy talk too much," complained Spring. She rushed him, but Tachi managed to parry her initial attack. Spring seemed impressed. She launched a combination of punches at the swordsman, and smiled when Tachi blocked them all. Then she sweep-kicked him. Tachi lost his balance, and with it, the rythm of his defense. Another combination of punches saw the Shooting Star of Furinkan High sprawled on the sidewalk.  
By this time Godai was back on his feet. He rushed Spring a second time, with predictable results. This time the sidewalk cracked when he landed on it.  
Ryo stared at the unmoving bodies of his friends. He bent down to pick up Tachi's bokken. Spinning the blade in his hands to get the feel of the weapon he paused, waiting for the purple-haired girl to make the first move.  
Spring advanced slowly. "Pig-tail boy have patience."  
"I don't like to fight."  
Spring launched a roundhouse kick at Ryo's head. He ducked under her foot, but she recovered before he could strike back. Spring attacked again, launching a combination of punches and kicks that Ryo was hard-pressed to defend against.. She set up a foot-sweep like she had against Tachi, but Ryo was ready for it. Spring's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and she jumped back to giver herself some room. "Pig-tail boy best fighter Spring see so far. Why he no attack?"  
"I told you, I don't like to fight. Fighting never solves anything."  
"How pig-tail boy win fiancee if he no fight?"  
Ryo's eyes narrowed, and his face became grim. "I told you to leave Bell-chan out of this," he snarled.  
The purple-haired girl perked up at that. "Spring finally understand! If Spring kill fiancee, Pig-Tail boy free to marry Spring."  
Ryo's knuckles grew white. He opened his mouth, but his fury had taken him far beyond language. With a wordless roar he hurled himself at Spring.  
Spring sighed. There was no strategy to Ryo's attack; he was flying at her feet first. It was an easy throw, and an easy win. That was why she was so surprised by the sudden blow to the stomach. Stunned, she could do nothing as Ryo's kick caught her in the face.  
Ryo landed hard. He'd put a lot of rage into that attack, and he hadn't had much thought for what would happen after kicking his opponent in the head. Truth be told, he hadn't been thinking, period.  
Picking himself up, Ryo wondered what had happened to Tachi's bokken. As reason slowly returned, he remembered throwing it at the purple-haired girl. He looked for his opponent, hoping he hadn't killed her in his momentary rage. She was moving, which put her that far ahead of Tachi and Godai. _Now what do I do?_ Ryo wondered.  
Spring felt her nose. It didn't seem broken, for all the blood coming out of it. *The boy with the pig-tail is a better fighter than I gave him credit for,* she muttered to herself. *He might actually be a match for me.* That thought brought a smile to her face. She sprang to her feet. "Pig-Tail boy ready for round two?"  
"Round two? Are you crazy? If we keep this up, someone could end up dead!"  
"So?" Spring jump-kicked him. Ryo dodged out of the way, but the girl's attack had been a feint. She twisted in mid-air and lashed out at the boy. Her fist landed square on Ryo's jaw, and the pig-tailed boy slumped to the ground.  
Spring pouted when she saw Ryo wasn't about to get up. "Spring never find husband at this rate. Best fighter so far only have one good punch in him." She reached into her jumpsuit and pulled out the locket. "Locket come closer this time, but not close enough. Spring want to meet good fighter. Now! Stupid locket understand?"  
The charm in her hand began glowing. Spring smiled. The world spun around her. As before, when it stopped, her opponents were gone.

Ryo opened his eyes. The purple-haired girl was fading away. _Where's she going? She's dangerous... and she threatened Bell-chan!_ Aloud he muttered, "I'd better keep an eye on her." He staggered to his feet. The girl was gone, but a ring of fading light marked where she had been standing. Ryo jumped.

The skies were clear and blue, but that meant little in Nerima, Tokyo. Rainclouds had a habit of appearing out of thin air, particularly whenever someone named Saotome walked outside.  
A boy and a girl were running to school. The boy was balanced on the top of a narrow fence, unconsciously practicing his martial arts skills. The girl took the more conventional path offered by the sidewalk. "Don't you need to stop by Uncle Tofu's clinic?" she called up to her companion.  
"Haven't got the time," the boy called back. His pony tail swung back and forth in time to his steps. "We're late enough as it is."  
"And whose fault is that?"  
"Look, Tachi, I didn't ask for Ran to show up. He just wandered into the dojo, like he always does."  
"And you had to fight with him, like you always do."  
The boy jumped down from the fence and ran alongside the girl. "What else am I supposed to do with the jerk? I still can't believe I'm engaged to him. I mean, didn't that go out of style last century?"  
"C'mon, Ranko, think for a minute. I know you have a brain in there. Use it! Considering our family history, be glad you only have one fiance."  
"This boy have fiancee, too! Stupid locket make mess of things again," shouted a new, usually perky voice.  
"Huh?" said Ranko. He and Tachi stopped running. A purple-haired girl with a long braid stood in the middle of the sidewalk, blocking their path. She was holding an amulet in her hands; glowing sparks were shooting out of it like tiny blue fireworks.  
"She looks like pictures of-" began Tachi, but the well-dressed girl was cut off by a cry of anger and frustration. The glowing locket bounced off the sidewalk, taking chips out of the concrete as it skipped into the canal on the other side of the fence. It made a hissing sound as it hit the water.  
The purple-haired girl stared at Ranko and Tachi. Her hands balled into fists, and a sharp, almost feline growl escaped her lips. Tachi reached for Ranko's book bag. "Here, let me hold that for you. This looks like something you're better at than I am."  
Ranko cracked her knuckles. "Well, I _am_ the best," he gloated.  
"Good," the purple-haired amazon cried. "Spring tired of fighting weak boys." She pressed her hands together, bowed, and jump-kicked Ranko.  
The boy ducked out of her way with ease. Spring, surprised, almost fumbled the mid-air flip she needed to land on her feet. "Spring impressed," she admitted.  
"Heh," said Ranko. "You ain't seen nothin' yet."  
Spring ran at Ranko, sending a shower of punches and kicks at the pony-tailed boy. He blocked them all, jumped over her sweep-kick, and landed an elbow on the top of her head. Spring's eyes glazed for a second, but then she renewed her attack. She was even more ferocious than before, if that was at all possible.  
Tachi, meanwhile, had not been sitting on the sidelines idle. Her mind had been in overdrive, trying to find out how she could profit from the situation. Remembering the stories she had heard growing up, she quickly realized how close Ranko was to complete disaster. Profit was one thing, but Chinese Amazons were not something she wanted to deal with just now. _Mom will be disappointed, but at least dad will understand._ "Ranko! Trust me!" she shouted. "This is one fight you don't want to win."  
"Huh?" Any more eloquent response from the pony-tailed boy was cut off by the knee to the stomach Spring hit him with.  
"Listen to me. If you win, she's got to marry you."  
"Marry?"  
"That right," announced Spring. "Pony-Tail boy strong and fast. Make good husband."  
"Husband? Who do you think I am? I'm not marrying anyone!" Ranko punctuated that outburst with a kick that sent Spring flying back into the fence.  
The purple-haired girl looked shocked for a moment, but she quickly fell back into a combat-ready stance. "Pony-Tail boy best fighter Spring see so far. Spring not go home empty handed."  
"Look, I'm not marrying you! I'm not even a-" There was a loud crack,

like a home run being hit out of the ballpark.  
"Shut up," Tachi hissed as she slid her bokken back underneath her jacket. "Can't you just call the fight a draw?"  
"A draw?" Ranko seemed offended at the thought. "Never! I'm gonna knock her into last week, no, last century!"  
"Spring want to see you try!"  
"I'm warning you, Ranko, this is a big mistake."  
Ranko said nothing. He rushed at the purple-haired girl, moving so fast he seemed to take flight. Spring caught his first kick, but it was a feint, and Ranko's attack sent them both through the fence.  
Tachi ran up to the edge of the canal. All she could see was a glowing ball of light somewhere underwater. "Idiot." She stripped off her shoes and jacket. "And she knows she can't swim." She dove in after the missing combatants...

Part Two: Present Confusion

Ryo sat up quickly and coughed up a mouthful of water. Looking around, he found himself in a canal. _How'd I end up... Last I remember, I was fighting a... Chinese Amazon?_ The pig-tailed boy stood up. As he did, his body reminded him quite painfully that he hadn't won the fight. "Godai? Tachi?" he shouted. "Are you guys all right?"  
There was no response, so Ryo jumped over the fence. Godai and Tachi were nowhere to be seen. In fact, there was no evidence of a fight at all. _This is weird. I know I'm not dreaming._  
The watch on Ryo's arm chimed the hour. "Damn!" _I'm dead late for class. And I look like a mess. Should I go to the clinic and get patched up, or should I go home and change? Home. I wouldn't want Bell-chan to see me looking like this._  
His decision made, Ryo started running through Nerima. In next to no time he stood outside the door of Ucchan's. "Mom, Pop, I'm home."  
A strange woman stood on the other side of the counter, cleaning the grill. "Who are you?" she asked.  
"Who are you?" Ryo shot back. "And what are you doing in my parent's restaurant?" There was something wrong about this woman; Ryo could sense such things, but considering who his parents were, gender identification was a survival skill. "Wait! You're not a woman, you're a man! You're Tsubasa, aren't you? Mom warned me about you." Ryo made a fist. "I don't know what you're playing at, but get out. Now."  
"I'm not Tsubasa," the man said. "But if you want a fight...

"And stay out," was the last thing Ryo heard as he went flying through the front window. The pig-tailed boy landed hard on the other side of the street. He wiped his face with his hands; they came away streaked with blood and lipstick.  
_This is way too strange. Pop won't be happy when he finds out I've lost two fights in a row, but there's nothing I can do about that now._ The pig-tailed boy stood up. He wobbled a bit as he walked. _I guess I'd better go to the clinic. Maybe I've been hit in the head too many times today._

Spring sat up. The water, which had been over her head a minute ago, was now only a foot deep. There was no sign of the pony-tailed boy, or of the nosy cousin, and there was no hole in the fence. _Did I get carried downstream?_  
Spring stood up and twisted her long, purple braid, wringing out a good deal of water. *This entire trip has been a disaster. I've been in three fights, and I've lost the only boy who came close to beating me. Great-great-grandmother is not going to be happy. Not at all.*  
The young Amazon jumped out of the canal and on to the sidewalk. A loud growl from her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten breakfast. *I'd better, no-* "Spring need find restaurant."  
A short time later Spring found a promising place. The sign even said Nekohanten. "It just like home!"  
"Shampoo!" a voice cried from inside the restaurant. "There you are! I love you, Shampoo!" A long-haired boy with glasses came running out the door. Spring did what any well-trained girl in Nerima would do, and Mousse soon found himself in Low Earth Orbit.  
*That's it! I've had it with this stupid country! I don't know how Great-great-grandmother expects me to find a husband.* Spring began walking, not caring which way she went. Intervening walls and buildings paid the price of her frustration.

Ranko screamed. There was water everywhere. Water was the mortal enemy of his closest kin. It warped the body in unnatural ways, and it sucked you under the waves, forcing itself down into your lungs.  
A wooden sword smacked the pony-tailed boy upside the head. "Crybaby," Tachi taunted. "The water's only a foot deep."  
"I knew that," said Ranko, sullenly.  
Tachi scrambled up the bank of the canal, while Ranko took a speedier route and jumped to the top of the fence. "I don't see that crazy girl anywhere."  
"Ranko, you have no idea how lucky you are that she's gone." Tachi shook her head, trying to dry out her short hair. "You have more than enough problems with that pig of a fiance you've already got. Throw a Chinese Amazon in the mix and, well, you know the stories as well as I do."  
"Yeah, I guess so."  
"And you owe me a month's worth of chores."  
"Huh?" Ranko face-faulted. He almost fell off the fence. "What for?"  
"While I was playing Baywatch, it seems someone stole my clothes."

The two of them, still damp and bedraggled, decided to go to the clinic before going to school. "Bell-chan should have some old clothes I can borrow," explained Tachi, wiggling her stocking toes. "And we might as well change you back while we have the chance."  
"Good idea," agreed Ranko. "If that girl shows up again, I want to be in my best fighting form. This body's stronger, but it's too slow."  
Tachi shook her head. "Get a clue, Ranko. The last thing you want to do is fight that Amazon in any form. If you do meet her again, the best thing to do would be to lose."  
"Throw a fight? Never! I'm the best there is!"  
"And I'm the undefeated Shooting Star of Furinkan High, but that doesn't mean anything." Off in the distance, there was a soft peal of thunder. "Just think about it, okay, Ranko?"  
Ranko's response was cut off by the sight of a man running down the middle of the street carrying a skeleton. "We're almost there," announced Tachi.  
Ranko stared after Dr. Tofu. "Man, Bell-chan's dad is a fruitcake. He's almost as nuts as your- ouch!" The pony-tailed boy winced as Tachi slapped her bokken against the palm of her hand. "What'd you do that for?"  
"You were saying?"  
"I was gonna say, 'Aunt,'"  
"Oh," Tachi put her bokken away. She smiled. "Sorry."

No one answered the clinic door when Ranko knocked. "Now what do we do?" he asked.  
"We go in," said Tachi, who did just that. "It's not like Aunt Kasumi is going to throw us out or anything." The short-haired girl stopped and studied the room for a moment. "Hmmm."  
"Tachi, what's wrong?"  
"Look at this place, Ranko. You tell me what's missing."  
Ranko turned around in a slow circle. "Well, it's a little messy."  
Tachi snapped her fingers. "Exactly. When was the last time Bell-chan and Aunt Kasumi left any place looking like this?" She stepped in the middle of the room and held out her arms. "This place looks like a bachelor pad."  
"So?"  
"So! It's not right."  
"You figure it out, then. I don't think they moved the kitchen since the last time we were here, so I'm going to get some hot water."  
"You do that," said Tachi. She began poking through piles of medical journals. "There's got to be a clue here somewhere."

A weary and beaten Ryo stumbled up to the clinic. He knocked at the door. _I hope Bell-chan is out. I don't want her to see me looking like this. The lipstick might be a bit hard to explain._  
His cousin Tachi opened the door. "Yes?" she asked.  
She?  
Ryo's gender identification sense went into overdrive. Tachi Kuno was a boy. He knew that. They'd grown up together. The person standing in the doorway had the same face, but she was very definitely female. The damp blouse made that more than abundantly clear.  
"T-tachi?" Ryo stammered.  
"Yes?" she repeated. "That's my name. If you're selling something, we're not interested.." She moved to shut the door.  
Martial arts reflexes kicked in, and Ryo's foot kept the door from closing all the way. "You're Tachi Kuno?"  
"I said yes." Tachi gave Ryo a closer look. "Hey, you've been in a fight." She let the door open all the way, grabbed him by the hair, and pulled the pig-tailed boy down so she could study his face. "With uncle Konatsu?"  
The world was just too strange for Ryo, and he started babbling. "There was a transvestite in the restaurant, and a Chinese Amazon, and you're a girl." His voice took on a plaintive note. "Where's Bell-chan?"  
Tachi shrugged. "That's a good question."  
Ranko returned from the kitchen, a teakettle in his hands. "Who's a girl?" he asked as he poured hot water over his head.  
Ryo saw the pony-tailed boy shrink, heard his voice rise in pitch, and could not help but notice the change in hair color. His gender sense flared beyond control. Splaying his fingers in shock, the pig-tailed boy slumped to the ground in a dead faint.  
"What's with him?" asked the now read-headed Ranko. "You'd think he's never seen a boy turn into a girl before.  
Tachi looked at the boy lying in the doorway. "Help me get him inside," she asked Ranko. "I think he's been hit on the head a bit too hard. The least we can do is give him an icepack."  
Ranko grabbed the pig-tailed stranger by the legs and started dragging him through the clinic. "Do you know who he is? It sounds like he knows you." The red-haired girl winked at her cousin. "Oh, I get it. He's your boyfriend. That explains the lipstick- ow! Would you stop hitting me with that thing?"  
Tachi calmly put her bokken away. "I only hit you when you deserve it, Ranko. I learned that from your mom. And no, he's not my boyfriend. At least, I don't think he is."  
"Huh?" Ranko hauled Ryo onto the examining table.  
Tachi held out one of the medical journals she'd found in the other room. "Look at the date on this. It's from last century. And this is the most recent one I could find."  
The titan-haired girl scratched her head. "So that means... uncle Tofu was reading old magazines?"  
"No!" Tachi slapped the journal down on a counter. "It means we're in the past. Use your mind, Ranko. There's no sign aunt Kasumi or Bell-chan ever lived here. It all fits."  
"The past?" Ranko thought for a moment. She liked the idea. "Yes! I can keep dad from taking me on that trip to- ouch!"  
"Oh, be quiet. I only used the magazine this time." The short-haired girl had a dreamy look in her eyes. "Besides, you're thinking small. Do you know how much money I can make here? I, Tachi Tendo, the undefeated Shooting Star, will make the financial world tremble at the mere whisper of my name!"  
In the distance, a massive roll of thunder shook the skies.  
"Hello?" asked a soft voice. "Doctor Tofu?" A beautiful woman with long brown hair walked into the room. "Oh, hello," she said. "Have you seen Doctor Tofu?"  
"He was running down the street with a skeleton," said Ranko.  
"Oh, my. I wonder why he was doing that? Well, he must have had a good reason." Kasumi walked over to the examining table and brushed the hair out of Ryo's face. "What happened to this poor boy?"  
Tachi shrugged her shoulders. "I think he was hit on the head a few too many times today. We just found him, and figured he ought to rest here for a while."  
"That's a good idea," agreed Kasumi. She took a damp cloth and wiped the blood and lipstick off his face.  
Ryo stirred at the sound of Kasumi's voice. His eyes fluttered open. "Bell-chan?" he asked. The pig-tailed boy tried to sit up. "No, wait, you're not Bell-chan."  
"No, she's not," whispered Tachi. "This is Kasumi."  
Ryo nodded. "Kasumi. Tachi is a girl, and this is Kasumi. I understand now. Kodachi escaped from the asylum and poisoned me. That's the only possible explanation."  
"Oh, my. If you have been poisoned, we should do something about that right away." Kasumi looked around the clinic. "Oh how I wish Doctor Tofu were here! Well, I can make some tea, at least. That should help a little." She hurried to the kitchen, moving purposefully.  
"You haven't been poisoned," Tachi explained. "I think you're from the future. Or, at least, a future."  
"Oh, really?" Ryo slid off the examining table. "And what makes you say that."  
The short-haired girl held up her left hand. "First, Ranko and I are from the future." She curled her pinky finger into her palm. "Second, you know my name. That means you're not from this world, not any more than I am." Another finger curled down. "Third, you're wearing your hair in a rather distinctive pig-tail braid. I only know one person who wears his hair that way." Tachi pointed her index finger at Ryo. "Fourth, who are your parents?"  
"Ranma and Ukyou Saotome."  
"Hey!" shouted Ranko.  
Tachi ignored her cousin. "And are they married?"  
Ryo looked shocked. "Of course they are! What kind of a question is that?"  
Tachi made a fist. "Where we come from, Ranma Saotome married Akane Tendo."  
Ryo stared at the two girls for a moment. "I believe you." He held his hands out, palm up. "I don't know why, but I believe you."  
Kasumi returned with the tea. She offered the cup to Ryo. "I apologize if this tastes bad, but there wasn't much I could do about the medicine."  
Ryo took a sip. "The tea is excellent, as always. I do not think you could ever make unwholesome food. Thank you very much." He drained the cup to the dregs.  
"And now we'd better be going," said Tachi.  
"But if your friend has been poisoned, you should wait until Doctor Tofu returns."  
"I am afraid we do not have time," said Ryo.  
"Yeah we do," countered Ranko. "If we're from the future, we have-" A bokken to the skull brought an end to the red-haired girl's words.  
"The future?" Kasumi studied the trio of displaced martial artists with her innocent eyes. "Oh. I do hope it's a nice future."  
Ryo and Tachi stared at each other. "I think you'd like it," Tachi said at last. "You have a beautiful daughter."  
"Bell-chan looks like you," Ryo added. "She is a goddess on earth, and I am to marry her at the end of summer."  
Kasumi smiled. "I have a feeling you'll be a fine son in law."  
"We do have to get going," insisted Tachi. "We need to get to the bottom of this mystery, and fast. Who knows what our being here in the past could do to the future?" She gave Ryo a warning glance. "Any future."  
"Be careful," advised Kasumi as the others left the clinic.  
"We will," Ryo assured her.  
The chronologically displaced teens started jogging. The sidewalk was too narrow for the three of them to run side by side, so Ranko jumped to the top of the ever-present fence. "Where are we going?" she called down.  
"To Furinkan High," her cousin replied. "We're going to need help; that means we need my mom." Tachi glanced at her companions. "And your dad, I guess."  
"If the stories of his high school days are true, pop was pretty good at solving problems," said Ryo.  
Tachi frowned. "Oh, the stories are true all right. You can always count on Ranma Saotome to get you out of a jam."  
Under her breath, the short-haired girl added, "Of course, he was the cause of the problems in the first place."

Spring stopped walking.  
This was a bad thing, as far as the local contractors were concerned. The purple-haired amazon had left a trail of destruction to rival any of Ryoga's worst rages. Every single wall that crossed her path now had a girl-sized hole in it.  
This was also a good thing, as far as the Furinkan High School grounds were concerned. Ranma and company caused enough structural damage by themselves. The school board did not need Spring to add to that week's repair bill.  
Spring was still frustrated and upset, though, and she could have cared less for contractors and school boards. Her quest to find a strong husband had been a near-total disaster. She'd only met one boy who was strong enough to give her a good fight, and he'd disappeared before they could decide who was the better fighter.  
And there was no way Spring would settle for anything less than a boy who could best her in a fight. She had a family tradition to uphold. That was, after all, why Cologne had sent her to Japan in the first place.

For the average boy, Furinkan high was a dangerous, depressing place. If you weren't careful, you could end up as collateral damage in a fight between obscenely powerful martial artists. Worse than that, every cute girl was either under Kuno's protection, engaged to Ranma Saotome, or both. It just wasn't fair.  
When Spring arrived at the front gates of the school at lunchtime, the testosterone-driven half of the Furinkan High population saw their chance. Everyone knew that Ranma spent the first part of the lunch period running from Akane, and the other part in the infirmary.  
In less than no time, the young amazon found herself the center of a wide ring of boys, all of them shouting and asking her questions.  
"Who are you? What's you're name?"  
"I haven't seen you around before. Are you going to school here?"  
"Are you from China? You look like you're from China."  
Spring, for all her training, was not very good at languages, particularly Japanese. The best she could do when confronted by the drooling hordes of Furinkan High was nod and smile a lot, which only encouraged the lot of them. Then one boy, with a bit more brains than the rest, finally worked himself up to asking the one question his fellows dreaded the most.  
"Are you engaged to Ranma?"  
The crowd instantly fell silent.  
Spring frowned. "Spring no engaged to anyone."  
"DATE ME!" the crowd roared in unison.  
Spring was shocked by their enthusiasm. _This trip might not be a failure after all. At a school this big there's got to be a decent fighter somewhere._ "Spring only date boy who beat her in fight," she declared, having to shout a bit to be heard over the crowd.  
The boys of Furinkan High thought about this for a minute.  
One of them pushed his way to the front of the pack. "I'll fight you," he announced. Spring bowed to him, then attacked. The boy went down hard.  
"Me next!" shouted a half-dozen boys at once. That started a mele the likes of which hadn't been seen since the days before Ranma Saotome enrolled.  
Spring was busy for the next few minutes. She'd never had to fight that many people at once before.

Ranma sat under a tree on the Furinkan High School grounds, contentedly munching on an okonomiyaki. He looked up at Ukyou and smiled. Once again she had saved him from starvation or worse; Akane had made his lunch today.  
A cry of, "Ranma, you JERK!" split the air, and the baka in question barely managed to avoid being driven into the turf by a rather large hyperdimensional hammer.  
"Wha'd I do?" he mumbled around a mouthful of food.  
"What did you do with the lunch I made you?" Akane took another swing at her fiance; the hammer was starting to glow blue with Cherenkov radiation.  
Ranma jumped up, somehow balancing on the side of a tree. He pointed behind Akane, and his fiancee paused in the middle of her anger-driven assault. Slowly she turned around.  
There, sprawled on the grass, was Kuno. On his face was a mixture of pain and pleasure that would have truly frightened anyone who didn't know Kodachi. Clenched tightly in his his hands was the remains of Ranma's lunch.  
"You gave... the lunch... I made... for you... to KUNO?"  
Ranma took a hasty step back. Akane's anger flared so brightly he was sporting a second shadow. He winced in anticipatory agony. There was no avoiding what came next, not without taking steps he would never use against a fiancee.  
"DIE, RANMA!"

"It really wasn't his fault," Nabiki told her sister. "Ranma owed me a favor, and Kuno was hungry. It was a way of killing two birds with one stone."  
"He still shouldn't have done it," Akane grumbled.  
"Look at Kuno," accused Ukyou. "If I hadn't shown up, that would have been Ran-chan curled up in agony."  
"Well, Ranma _is_ curled up in agony," noted Nabiki. The middle Tendo daughter nudged her possible brother-in-law with her toe. There was a large hammer-shaped impression on the side of his face, and his fingers were splayed in a traditional display of surprise and warding.  
Akane ignored her sister; she was busy confronting Ukyou instead. "Are you saying my cooking is bad?"  
"If the poison fits..."  
"I'm not going to stand here and be insulted!"  
"Leave, then. It'll be safer for Ran-chan."  
Akane made a fist. "That does it!"  
Ukyou drew her battle spatula. "Any time, tomboy."  
Nabiki sized up the combatants, trying to decide what sort of odds she should give. Then she noticed something strange: there was about to be a rather nasty cat fight, and the student population of Furinkan High was not swarming the combatants. She shaded her eyes with her hands and searched the school grounds. The only people she saw were gathered around the front gate, and all of them were girls.  
_I'd better postpone this,_ Nabiki decided. _If Ukyou and my sister duke it out without an audience, I won't make a profit. And I want to see what's going on._ She took a step in front of Akane, blocking the girls' line-of-fire. "Hold on a minute."  
Ukyou paused in mid-swing. "Get out of the way, Nabiki."  
The mercenary Tendo girl stared at both Ukyou and Akane in turn. "What's gotten into you two. You'd think you were Ranma and Ryoga. Now cut the macho act and follow me."  
Nabiki marched towards the large crowd of girls; she wanted know what was happening, and if she could turn it to her advantage somehow. Akane and Ukyou, both shamefaced, dragged their feet after her. Akane also dragged Ranma.  
"I'm sorry," they both said at once.  
"It's just that Ranma gets me so mad sometimes," Akane continued.  
"Tell me about it." Ukyou looked off in the distance. "I've been on edge all morning, too. Konatsu threw some nut out of Ucchan's today, just before I left for school. It wasn't anyone we've seen before, and Konatsu said he was talking like a crazy man. The whole thing's made me a little worried."  
"Did you see him?"  
"Nah, I was in the back, and it was all over by the time I could take a look."  
"I can see why you'd be scared. I know _I'd_ be worried." Akane held out her hand. "No hard feelings, then?"  
Ukyou smiled. "Nope." She took Akane's hand. "With all the weird things that happen around Ran-chan, the last thing I need is another enemy."

Nabiki elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. What she saw surprised her. Not the pile of unconscious boys; that was commonplace at Furinkan High. No, it was the girl knocking the boys unconscious that surprised her. _With hair that color she's got to be related to Shampoo._ "Who is she?" Nabiki asked.  
"She says her name is Spring," answered one girl.  
"I just _love_ her outfit."  
"Too bad about the bloodstains."  
"Don't you wish you had hair like that?"  
"If you ask me, that's a dye job."  
"Like, no way! Besides, who dyes hair that long?"  
"Where have you seen a braid like that?"  
"She's good."  
Akane, who had fought her way through the crowd to stand by her sister, frowned at that remark. "What's so special about her. I can do that." There was a bit of wounded pride in the girl's voice, though.  
"No, she's got... something," said Ranma, who was once more awake and lucid. "I can't quite put my finger on it, though."  
Akane gave him a fist to the kidney. "Are you saying she's better than I am?"  
Ranma grit his teeth and forced himself to stand up straight.  
"She's certainly taking her time," noted Nabiki. "You were never this slow, sis." In her mind, the mercenary Tendo girl was evaluating Spring's performance. It was a sure bet the newcomer would end up in a duel with someone she knew. _I'd better get ready to promote the fight, once she tells us who or what she's after._  
A boy went flying towards the crowd; Ukyou spatulated him to the ground before he could hit anyone. "That's the last one. I wonder what happens now?"

Spring felt her heart breaking.  
Of all the boys she'd just defeated, not a single one was even remotely in her class. Even the nosy cousin with the funny wooden sword had put up a better fight. The young Amazon looked around the crowd, hoping against hope that she had missed a boy somewhere.  
She saw Ranma.  
Spring took a step towards him, then stopped. The boy looked familiar. He reminded her of the pig-tailed boy she'd fought, and the pony-tailed boy who had knocked her in the canal. _Well, they are Japanese,_ she told herself. _Of course they're going to look alike. At least this one has the sense to wear normal clothes._  
"You!" Spring pointed at Ranma. "You fight with Spring now." There was a weariness in her voice; it was almost too much to hope that this boy was any better a fighter than the others she'd just beaten. "You win, you marry Spring."  
Ranma face-faulted, giving Ukyou a chance to step in. "Ran-chan is engaged to me." She spun her battle spatula in a slow arc. "He's certainly not going to marry you."  
Spring's blue eyes all but glowed with newfound hope. This girl with the funny pole-axe was surely a warrior, and if she was engaged to the boy, then he must have _some_ skill. "Fine. Girl fight Spring."  
Akane, fists clenched, stood in front of Ukyou. "If anyone's going to fight over Ranma, it's going to be me."  
_Two girls? This boy must be an incredible fighter!_ Spring was so excited she didn't catch Ranma's name. "That fine with Spring!" She pressed her hands together, bowed to Akane and Ukyou, then jumped at them.  
_Two-to-one odds,_ thought Nabiki. _What sort of a point spread should I consider?_

Akane and Ukyou were worried.  
Not that either of them would admit it, of course. They were both martial artists with years of training behind them. They were also engaged to Ranma, and while that usually involved prodigious amounts of aggravation and inconvenience, it also gave one a superhuman level of endurance. People like that don't like to admit it when they bite off more than they can chew.  
This strange new girl, Spring, was eating them alive, though.  
The first few minutes of the fight were a period of testing. Akane threw a few punches, Spring threw a few kicks, and Ukyou threw a few spatula shuriken. No one got hurt.  
Nabiki figured out the odds, gave the home team 5-4, and started taking bets. Ranma studied the fighters and started to sweat. He never liked sitting out on a fight, especially not when he was the prize. Genma Saotome's son wanted to be the master of his own destiny. Letting other people decide his future made him uncomfortable, particularly when his strength and skill could make a difference.  
There was something about this girl that made Ranma worry for Akane and Ukyou. It wasn't just the hair, which reminded him of Shampoo. That in and of itself was cause for concern. No, there was something about the way this new girl moved. She was fast and graceful, like a cat, or a tiger, and just as fierce.  
It was only when Spring upped the tempo of her attacks that Ranma finally put the pieces of the puzzle together.  
Akane and Ukyou hadn't been working well together; their styles were too diverse, and they kept getting in each other's way. Spring played one of them against the other, moving fast enough to not get hit, launching attacks just to keep the fiancees on their toes. The Amazon was tired from taking on the male half of Furinkan High, and had been buying time to get her wind back.  
Then Ukyou tried to sweep Spring's legs with her battle spatula. Spring jumped over the attack, landed _on_ the spatula, kicked Ukyou in the face, twisted in mid-air, punched Akane in the nose, did a backflip, and landed on her feet. Ranma was the only one who saw the whole thing; the Chinese Amazon had moved so fast that the rest of the crowd had only seen a purple-haired blur.  
"Airborne attacks? That's Saotome-Ryu," he whispered.  
Nabiki heard him over the crowd. "Are you sure?"  
"Hey, I know these things." Ranma studied the fight for another minute, wincing as Spring launched a flurry of kicks at Ukyou. One made it past the okonomiyaki chef's guard, catching her in the sternum.  
Nabiki thought for a bit. "Just how bad is it going to get?" "Not very bad, if I've got anything to say about it." Ranma flexed his fingers and made a pair of fists, his knuckles popping like twin bowls of cereal. He took a step into the ring.  
Akane saw him move. "Stay out of this, Ranma," she shouted. "Ukyou and I can handle it." Indeed, Akane redoubled her attacks, making Spring give ground for once.  
Ranma took a hesitant step back. He knew how skilled Akane was, perhaps even more than she knew herself. He also knew she couldn't keep up that pace for very long. Sooner or later she would tire, and then she would make a mistake.  
Nabiki and the rest of the crowd lacked Ranma's intimate firsthand knowledge of Akane's martial prowess. All they saw was the local talent pulling ahead. More bets were made. Nabiki, envisioning her profits on this escapade, gave Ranma a warning. "Don't you dare interfere, Ranma-kun. If my sister says she can win, she will."  
Ranma said nothing. On the inside he was burning with impatience.  
Then Akane made her one mistake.  
It was a small thing, an overextended kick, but for Spring it was enough. Akane's momentum was broken; the purple-haired Amazon began her counterattack. She drove Akane back, and the short-haired girl stumbled over her own feet.  
Ukyou saw this and swung her battle spatula as hard as she could in an attempt to take the pressure off of her partner. Spring didn't even look at Ukyou's attack; she just reached back, grabbed the haft of the weapon, and continued the swing. Ranma knew the move; he'd seen Happosai do it dozens of times.  
Ukyou and the spatula went flying.  
Ranma was ready for action; he jumped and caught her before she hit the ground. "Th-thanks, Ran-chan," she breathed. "I- I thought I was a goner."  
_I should've stopped this when I had the chance. That's the last time I _ever_ listen to Nabiki. If Akane gets hurt I'll never forgive my-_ "Akane!" Ranma unceremoniously dumped Ukyou in the dirt and jumped into the fight.  
Spring held a dazed Akane off the ground with one arm; the other was pulled back, poised to strike. Ranma moved like lightning, catching her fist in his hand. Spring was strong, but the heir to the Saotome-Ryu was adamant when it came to protecting his fiancee. The purple-haired girl's attack went nowhere. "That's enough," Ranma growled.  
"Spring agree!" She set Akane down, then grabbed Ranma's hand. "Spring win fight. Now boy marry Spring, come live to China, happy ever after." The girl was all but bubbling in her enthusiasm.  
Ranma pulled away. "If you think I'm gonna marry you 'cuz you nearly killed Akane and Ucchan, you're nuts!"  
"Boy not marry Spring?"  
"I said, 'No.'"  
The young Amazon bowed her head and turned away. _What can I do? I've already lost track of one good fighter. I'll be damned if I let this one go, too._ Steeling her courage, Spring spun around. Her thick purple braid streamed behind her, and her eyes flashed with determination. "Spring drag you back to China get married even if have to do it with coffin."  
Ranma took a step back and brought his arms up in a defensive kata. "I don't like to fight girls," he warned.  
"Boy no fight, Spring have easy time take to China."  
"Just try it."  
"Spring do exactly that." She pressed her hand together, bowed, and attacked.

Tachi was slower than Ranko and Ryo, and not having any shoes only made the difference in their speeds that much more. Ranko, running atop the fence, didn't notice this. Ryo did. "Here, let me help." He swept the short haired girl off her feet and carried her in his arms, all the while not missing a single step.  
"Hey! What are you doing?"  
"We need to get to the school as fast as we can, right? I can run faster carrying you than you can run by yourself."  
Tachi had to admit Ryo was right. "But won't you get tired?"  
The pig-tailed boy shook his head. "No. My parents are both very determined people. Pop never gives up, and Mom gave up almost everything she had to track him down."  
From the fence came a giggle. "You two look so cu-ute," sang Ranko. "I told you he'd make a good boyfriend for you."  
Tachi made a face. Ranko was too far away to hit.  
Ryo frowned. "I'm already engaged. Besides, I thing we're probably cousins."  
"Step cousins one dimension removed," agreed Tachi. "But then you and Ranko are half brother and sister."  
Ranko snorted. "I know Pop always wanted a boy."  
Tachi laughed. "Well, now he's got his wish, or, at least, half of it." Ranko stuck her tongue out, but said nothing.  
The three displaced martial artists ran in silence for a moment, each one of them lost in their own thoughts. "I'm sorry I tried to shut the door in your face earlier," Tachi said to Ryo. "I didn't know who you were, but it was still rude. One of my father's lessons to me was to always be polite."  
"Don't worry about it," the pig-tailed boy assured her. "I _was_ acting a little crazy then."  
"You're all better now, aren't you?" Tachi asked.  
Ryo nodded. "Unlike Pop, I'm not used to having people hit me in the head. That and the sudden change of worlds had me disoriented. Now I know where I am and what I'm doing. I need to get back to Bell-chan," he said gravely, "and I'm not going to let anything stop me. That gives me the focus I need."  
"She must be very special."  
Ryo met Tachi's eyes. "Your world has a copy of Bell-chan. You tell me."  
"Hey, we're here," announced Ranko. She hopped down from the fence. "It looks like there's been a fight. Cool!"  
Tachi slid from Ryo's arms. She saw the piles of unconscious boys. "How far back in time did we go? I though all of this stopped a few days after uncle Ranma came home from China."  
The three of them wandered onto the school grounds, looking for their respective parents. They didn't have far to go. "That girl with the purple braid, the one pop's fighting. She's the one we met earlier." Ranko smiled. "I want another shot at her."  
"I don't," Ryo admitted.  
Tachi looked at Spring, then at Ryo. "You've fought her before?"  
Ryo shrugged. "I guess you could call it a fight. I went berserk, almost killed her, and then she knocked me out."  
"This is important. Which universe did you fight her in?"  
"Mine." Ryo looked at Tachi in confusion. "What difference does that make?"  
"Think!" Tachi demanded. "That girl's been in at least three dimensions. We've only been in two apiece. She's obviously a Chinese Amazon, only I haven't seen any amazon wear their hair like that."  
Understanding shone in Ryo's eyes. He grabbed the end of his braid and studied it. "But you do know one man who _does_ wear his hair like that. And together Ranko and I account for two possibilities..."  
Tachi sounded grim. "You know who had hair that color."  
Ranko held a fist to her hand and chewed on a knuckle. "I think Pop's in big, big trouble."

Spring was fast and strong, a savage fighter who didn't let up for an instant. Ranma was hard-pressed to defend himself; he'd already taken a few minor hits, and the battle was less than a minute old. Part of that was because he was holding back; even in a life and death struggle the heir to the Saotome-Ryu was reluctant to attack a girl.  
The other reason was that Spring was simply very, very good.  
_I've never fought a girl this good before,_ Ranma thought. _Well, there was Herb, but he was really a guy. And Cologne, but she doesn't count. And I guess Konatsu was pretty tough, but he turned out to be a-_ "Oof!" A side kick slipped below Ranma's guard and knocked him back a few paces. Spring followed her attack with a second kick. Ranma instinctively set up a countermove, one that would use his longer reach to hit the Amazon as she came in. His will faltered at the last minute, though, and he pulled his punch. Spring's foot caught him square in the jaw.  
The purple-haired girl flipped away from Ranma, landing on her feet like a gymnast, ready to launch another flurry of punches and kicks. "Why boy hold back?" she demanded. "Spring know boy could win if try. Boy fight like people back home China, only better."  
"It's not right... for a guy to... fight a girl," Ranma gasped.  
"Spring not understand!" she wailed. "If boy fight real and lose, Spring no marry boy. If boy win fight, Spring no able drag boy to China get married. What boy try to do?"  
"I told you," Ranma grated, "I don't want to get married!"  
"SPRING NO CARE WHAT BOY WANT!" She charged into battle again.  
Ranma did his best not to get hurt.

"We've got to do something," Ranko told Tachi. "If Pop keeps holding back, he's gonna get creamed. That girl's almost as good as I am."  
"Shh. I'm trying to think," her cousin answered.  
"Think fast, then," Ryo advised. "I doubt Pop can take much more of... of..." At that moment a gap opened in the crowd, giving the three displaced teens their first view of Akane, Nabiki, and Ukyou. Akane, still dazed from her fight with Spring, was sitting on the ground with her eyes closed. Ukyou didn't look much better; she was leaning heavily on her battle spatula, and it was the only thing holding her up. Nabiki looked stunned; money was flowing from her hands as people collected their winnings from her.  
"Mom!" the teens shouted with one voice. All three rushed past the milling spectators and converged on their respective parents. Nabiki and Ukyou turned to face the newcomers, wondering what was happening. Akane didn't move; it was all she could do to sit upright.  
Ranko decided that enough was enough.. Her mother was in a world of hurt, and her father was getting beat up. "I'll avenge you, Mom!" the red-haired girl cried, but before she could throw herself into the fight, Tachi spatulated her into Low-Earth-Orbit.  
"Thanks for teaching me that, Aunt Ukyou," she said as she put her bokken away. "It wouldn't do for Ranko to jump into the fight; she'd just add to the confusion."  
Ukyou blinked at Ryo a few times. "I must be dreaming. I'm too young to have a son as old as you. And with that braid..." She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "This can't be true."  
Ryo reached out and touched her lightly on the shoulder. "It's true, Mom," he whispered. "I'm from the future, somehow transported to the past, and I'm as real as you are." _I hope that reassures her. Mom's never been fond of the craziness Pop generates. They're the only two things in this world that I can count on, and if she falls apart on me now, with everything else that's been going on..._  
"I'd always hoped..." Ukyou's voice trailed off; the shock of Ryo's sudden appearance, plus her injuries from the fight, were too much for the okonomiyaki chef to take at once. Ryo caught her before she fell, then he gently set her down on the grass.  
_Spring is to blame for this,_ the pig-tailed boy thought. _She's hurt my mother; I'll find a way to make her pay, transdimensional half-sister or not!_  
Nabiki was more lucid than Ukyou in her skepticism. "You're from the future, huh?" The mercenary Tendo girl crossed her arms and stared up at Tachi. "Prove it," she demanded.  
Tachi reached into the collar of her blouse and pulled out a slender golden chain. Hanging from the chain was a ten yen coin.  
Nabiki grabbed the necklace and stared at it. Then she pulled a similar chain from around her own neck. The coin she carried was newer then Tachi's, less worn, although they were both polished so they glowed. "Where did you get this?" Nabiki asked.  
Tachi shrugged her shoulders. "You gave it to me when I started school." The Shooting Star of Furinkan high looked away, unable to meet her mother's stare. "You told me you'd won it in a bet, and that it was more valuable as a reminder than as money."  
"Well, now, this changes things." Nabiki studied Tachi closely, looking her up and down. "You're pretty tall..." Then she got a good look at the bokken. "I married him after all." She sounded surprised.  
Tachi held her hands together in front of her stomach. "People say he's gotten a lot better. You had Aunt Kodachi institutionalized. Father wasn't being poisoned on a constant basis, and that made a big difference."  
Nabiki nodded. "I take it we have money?"  
"Uh huh."  
"I assume, then, that you can afford proper clothes, young lady."  
Nabiki's tone was light, making her words more banter than lecture, but Tachi still stared down at her stocking feet, blushing. Then a sudden burst of inspiration came to her, and she looked into her mother's eyes with confidence. "You can bill Uncle Ranma for the shoes and jacket."  
"And why can I do that?"  
"I lost them while saving Ranko from the canal. She owes me, and since Ranma's her dad..."  
Nabiki's eyes twinkled. "There's no doubt about it. You're my daughter, all right."  
"I hate to break this up," interrupted Ryo, "but my transdimensional half-sister is winning the fight."  
"Transdimensional half-sister?" Nabiki asked.  
"It's a working theory," explained Tachi shyly. "Ryo here is from a world where Uncle Ranma married Aunt Ukyou. In my world, Ranma married Aunt Akane. We saw the hair and the braid, and figured that this Spring must be Shampoo's daughter."  
"So she's fighting to marry her own father? Not even Kodachi's that sick."  
Ryo shook his head. "She probably doesn't recognize him, Aunt Nabiki. From all the stories I've heard, Shampoo was never very observant. Pop isn't all that much better, so I can't imagine any child of theirs being very bright."  
"We need to end the fight, Mom, and we can't think of a way how. I don't think Spring is going to listen to reason, and Uncle Ranma won't fight back."  
"He won't throw the fight, either," added Ryo. "One or the other would solve his problems; only Pop would refuse to do both."  
Nabiki studied the ground. "That's easy enough to solve." She found the spot she was looking for and scuffed it with her shoe. "Can one of you make a big hole right here?"  
Ryo nodded. "I can, but why-"  
"Just do it," Nabiki commanded.  
"Bakusai-ten-ketsu!" shouted Ryo.  
The earth erupted under their feet.  
The pipes for the sprinkler system were twisted beyond repair.  
Cold water splashed everywhere.

Ranma looked awful and felt worse. The Amazon just wouldn't stop hitting him. _I gotta fight back, but I can't hit this girl. I just can't do it!_ Ranma began to sweat. _There's something about her. What is it? Why does she seem so familiar?_  
Spring leapt at Ranma. He knew the move; it was pure Saotome-Ryu, something Genma had taught him years ago. Ranma couldn't make himself counterattack, though, and Spring's punch knocked him back into a tree.  
Spring stood over Ranma. "Boy have last chance." Her eyes burned with conviction. "Boy throw fight, Spring no marry coward."  
"Never!" Ranma managed to grunt.  
"Then boy ask for it." Spring began a kata that Ranma knew would end with him in a world of pain unless he did something to stop her. "Boy go to China if Spring have to drag every step of way!"  
_Saotome Secret Technique? No, I can't escape carrying both Akane and Ukyou, and I don't dare leave them behind. Damn it! There's got to be _something_ I can do._  
Then it started to rain.  
Ranma felt himself change. _Great. I needed this like a hole in the head._  
Spring finished her kata.  
Ranma closed her eyes.  
Ranma opened her eyes.  
Spring hadn't moved.

Spring was frozen in shock.  
The boy she had been fighting was gone, replaced by a girl with red hair. Only now was Spring able to put the clues together. At first she'd been so excited at finding a strong fighter that she'd been blind to the obvious. And then his strange refusal to fight had confused her even more.. The law was simple: you got married if the boy won, and you didn't if he lost. This pig-tailed, Chinese-clothes-wearing, fights-like-the-people-from-home boy wasn't playing by any rules Spring knew of.  
But now Spring knew where she'd seen this boy... this girl... before.  
Only he'd... she'd... been older, much older.  
Somehow she'd been fighting her father.  
No wonder he wouldn't fight back.  
*No! This isn't fair! Can't I find _anyone_ to marry?* Spring turned from the battle and ran, leaving her father and the school far behind. Tears rolled down her cheeks, mingling with the water from the ruptured water main. *It isn't fair. It isn't fair!*  
*Life is seldom fair, little kitten,* said a voice like dry leaves.  
Spring stopped running. She knew that voice.  
*Great-Great-Grandmother?* she asked.  
*Yes, little kitten,* said Cologne.

Cold water splashed Akane in the face, snapping her back into full consciousness. _Is it raining?_ she asked herself, but a quick glance at the school grounds showed her the ruptured sprinkler system. The fountain shrank as she watched it; someone must have shut the water off.  
Akane also saw her sister and two strangers confronting Ranma. _At least that girl is gone._ Akane shivered at the memory of her fight with Spring. The purple-haired warrior had been unstoppable. _It was like fighting Ranma, only she hit back._  
"What was with that crazy chick?" she heard Ranma ask.  
Nabiki shrugged, then handed Ranma a steaming teakettle. "Oh, nothing much, Ranma-kun. She's just your daughter."  
"Daughter? C'mon Nabiki, you know that's impossible."  
"Why is that, Ranma-kun?" Nabiki's smile was mocking. "I thought you liked girls."  
Ranma turned as red as her hair. "Th-that's not what I meant!"  
"That was mean, Mom," complained one of the two strangers.  
The other stranger nodded. "I agree, Aunt Nabiki. It's not fair to taunt Pop when he's confused like this."  
_Mom? Aunt Nabiki? Pop?_ Akane was intrigued. She slowly pushed herself to her feet and staggered over to where Ranma and the others stood.  
Ranma, being Ranma, missed the implications of the two stranger's words. She was still looking to Nabiki for some sort of an explanation. "That girl, Spring, is apparently your daughter from the future," she told him.  
"My daughter." Ranma was still trying vainly to understand what was going on. She poured hot water on her head, instigating a now-familiar transformation. "But she looks like Shampoo."  
Nabiki clapped. "Bravo, Ranma-kun."  
Ranma glanced quickly at Akane, a guilty look haunting his face. The martially-inclined Tendo daughter reached between the dimensions for a very large hammer. _You'd better feel guilty if you're fooling around with Shampoo!_  
Ryo also saw the momentary shift in his father's eyes. _He looked at Aunt Akane, but not at Mom. What are you thinking, Pop?_ Confusion and hurt waged war with parental respect in Ryo's mind, but he carefully kept his thoughts and feelings hidden. He needed to sort them out before acting; jumping off half-cocked and hasty was what caused most of his father's problems. Ryo had vowed long ago not to make the same mistake.  
Out loud, the boy decided to be reassuring. "Spring is only a possible future daughter, Pop."  
This time, Ranma heard what Ryo called him. He also saw the braid. _Pop? _He_ doesn't look like Shampoo! OhMyG- Akane was right. Two kids by two different mothers? I _am_ a pervert!_  
Akane, too, chose this moment to study Ryo. _He looks like Ranma, all right, and a little like... Ukyou._ The hyperdimensional hammer slipped through Akane's numb fingers, never materializing in the Ranmaverse. _He has a daughter by Shampoo, and a son by Ukyou, and that other girl called Nabiki, 'Mom,' and there aren't any other strange people around, and what could possibly have gone wrong?_ Tears welled up in Akane's eyes. _Don't I have a son or daughter, too?_  
"Incoming!" yelled a loud, brash voice. Everyone looked up as Ranko returned from Low-Earth-Orbit. The pony-tailed girl executed an Olympic-calibre flip as she landed, accidentally splashing Akane with muddy water.  
Akane wiped the mud and tears from her eyes.. When she could see again, a young man with dark hair pulled back in a pony tail was standing in front of her. "D'oh! Sorry about that, Mom."  
Akane took a step back in surprise. The new boy's parentage was obvious; she could see herself in Ranko's face, and Ranma in his posture. _Mom. He called me, "Mom."_ "Th-that's OK," she stammered.  
Then realization hit. "Weren't you a girl?"  
Ranko looked down at the mud.  
Tachi tried to explain. "Uh, Uncle Ranma took her on a training trip."  
"It was an accident," Ranko mumbled.  
Akane locked eyes with Ranma. The Tendo girl reached into hammerspace for the largest mallet she could find. "What did you do to my daughter?" she demanded.  
Ranma turned very, very pale.  
"RANMA, YOU JERK!"

Cologne poured a cup of tea, them hopped over to the table where the purple-haired girl sat. *Your heritage is obvious to anyone with eyes, little kitten,* she said, *but I am still curious. What brings you from the future?*  
*I don't know.* Spring's voice was choked with tears; she had been crying since leaving Furinkan High.  
Cologne set the tea in front of Spring, who wrapped both her hands around the cup like it was a rope dangling over the edge of a cliff. *I understand that you are upset and confused, little kitten, but you must tell me what you know. I can not help you otherwise.*  
*I was... I was...* Spring couldn't get the words around the lump in her throat. She drank the entire cup of tea, then tried again. *I was looking for a husband. There wasn't anyone in the village strong enough to beat me.*  
*That I do not doubt.* Cologne gave the girl a smile. Spring was reassured, but any lesser mortal would have nightmares remembering that expression. *Would you like some more tea?*  
*Yes, please.* Cologne brought the kettle to the table, and Spring continued her story. *You suggested that I should go to Japan, since it was a country of strong warriors. Mother gave me a locket she said would lead me to a strong man.* Spring shook her head. *The locket... broke. It wouldn't work right. All the boys I met were weaklings, except for one boy who knocked me in the canal. But I lost him. Then I came here, and some fool called me by mother's name.*  
_That would have been Mousse,_ thought Cologne.  
*I was upset, so I ran. I don't know where I went.*  
*You left a trail even a blind man could follow,* admonished Cologne. *You must learn to be more cautious. I saw your handiwork and went in search of the cause. What if someone else had gone instead?*  
*I am sorry, Great-Great-Grandmother," apologized Spring.  
*I forgive you, little kitten. You were upset.*  
*Yes, Great-Great-Grandmother. When I stopped running I found myself surrounded by boys, but they were all weak. Then I saw father.*  
*And you fought him. I saw your battle, little kitten. You are very skilled.*  
*But first I fought two girls, Great-Great-Grandmother. One of them used a funny pole axe and some odd throwing knives. The other was very angry.*  
_The first sounds like the okonomiyaki girl, Ukyou. The other must have been Akane._ *Did you fight with anyone else, little kitten?*  
*No, Great-Great-Grandmother.*  
Cologne bowed her head in thought for a moment. *You have given me much to ponder, little kitten. Why don't you go upstairs and take a nap? You must be exhausted after your eventful day.*  
*Yes, Great-Great-Grandmother.*  
*I would like the locket, before you go.*  
Spring stared at her hands. *I threw it away.*  
*You WHAT?*  
Spring shrank into herself. *It was broken, and shooting off sparks. I... I threw it in the canal.*  
*I see.* Cologne's voice was as cold and dead as the grave. *Well, there is nothing to be done about it now. Take your nap and let me think.*  
Cologne watched the girl's retreating form as she ran up the stairs. _Her story is unbelievable, but she could not lie to me, not after drinking so much of my truth-inducing tea. Does she come from my future, or another? I must think on this, and I must find that locket! If Son-In-Law was to find it first, or, Heaven forbid, Happosai...

Akane swung her hyperdimensional hammer above her head. _How dare he get my daughter cursed!_ Cerulean fire outlined her body as she brought the hammer down, aiming for the top of Ranma's skull.  
The blow never landed.  
Akane blinked. The angry blue aura surrounding the youngest Tendo daughter winked out of existence as surprise replaced rage. She looked with disbelieving eyes at something that had never happened before. Ryo had willingly stepped between her and Ranma when she was about to clobber the baka. And he'd caught her industrial-sized mallet with one hand.  
Ryo pulled the hammer out of Akane's nerveless fingers. "Pop may make mistakes sometime, but that's no reason to hit him. And I won't let you hurt him for something he hasn't even done yet."  
"But he..." began Akane.  
"I don't care what he may or may not have done! I won't let you hit my father, and that's final." Ryo snapped the haft of Akane's hammer in half and threw the pieces across the school grounds. The head made a respectably large crater where it hit the pavement. The handle made a rather loud crack when it hit Kuno in the face.  
"I thought only the wizard Saotome would dare strike at the great Tatewaki Kuno from afar. Very well, stranger, I accept your challenge! Prepare yourself to face the matchless might of the Blue Thunder!" Lightning split the cloudless sky as Kuno raised his bokken to the heavens.  
Tachi blinked. Nervous lines creased her forehead as she studied the man who would one day become her father.  
Ryo bowed apologetically to Kuno. "I am sorry, Kuno-sempai. Please forgive my carelessness. I should have looked before I threw."  
"A humble apology, humbly given," Kuno acknowledged. "Had I but appeared a moment later, I would have accepted it. Yet fate has forsaken you, stranger, and destiny smiles upon the House of Kuno, for I have seen with my own eyes the disrespect with which you confronted the noble Akane Tendo." Kuno paused in his soliloquy to study Ryo. "Indeed! I note that you, too, wear your hair in the same fashion as the accursed wizard Saotome. Are you apprenticed to that villain, following in his footsteps of lechery and perversion? Be of good cheer, then, for I, Tatewaki Kuno, sense that you have but recently set foot upon Saotome's path of sin. It is not too late to save your spirit from the unholy pursuit of sorcery." Kuno brandished his bokken. "As the noble son of a noble family, it falls upon me to teach you the error of your ways. Again I say, 'Prepare yourself!'"  
Ryo took a step back. "I don't want to fight you."  
"I do," declared Ranko. "You take back all that junk you said about Ranma Saotome, or I'll feed you your teeth." The pony-tailed boy held a fist under Kuno's nose.  
"I am beset with villains!" cried Kuno. "Yet where righteousness lives in the hearts of men, there also will you find victory! I stand by my words, and I accept your challenge."  
_Nobody picks on my daughter,_ thought Akane. She pushed her way between Kuno and Ranko. "You leave her alone, Kuno."  
"'Her?'" Kuno stared up at the heavens, calling for divine aid. "Oh, what a wicked day! Saotome has not one, but two demons apprenticed to his evil, and one has bewitched the beauteous Akane Tendo until she can not tell the fair sex from the noble. I ask you, 'When?' When shall the Land of the Rising Sun be free of the plague that is called 'Saotome?'"  
Tachi nudged her mother with her elbow. "Mom, do something! Father's making a fool of himself."  
Nabiki shrugged. "Why should I? He's not hurting anyone, and it's fun to watch."  
"But, Mom..."  
"Shh. You'll miss the best part."

"Great-Grandmother, I home," Shampoo called. There was no response, so Shampoo sprang up the stairs to her room. She needed to change out of her working clothes if she was going to entice Ranma into taking her out on a date that night..  
The bedroom door was open. _That's funny. I thought I shut the door when I left this morning. If Mousse was messing around in there again..._ Shampoo quietly slipped her hand inside the room, then with a burst of speed she turned on the lights and threw the door all the way open.  
A Chinese Amazon with a long, purple braid was napping on Shampoo's bed. The girl sat up at the sudden noise and blinked her eyes, trying to clear the sleep from them.  
*Who are you?* Shampoo demanded.  
*Mother?* Spring whispered.  
*What are you talking about, crazy girl?* Shampoo instinctively brought her hands up, fingers held like knives. *There's no way you're my daughter. You're just as old as I am.*  
Spring was not daunted. *Mother!* she cried. The time-displaced Amazon jumped off the bed at Shampoo, her arms open wide.  
Shampoo was having none of that. Reflexes trained by years of avoiding Mousse kicked in. Spring's attempt at a hug became a shoulder throw by Shampoo. Only it didn't quite work that way. Shampoo was fast and strong, but Spring was faster and stronger. She twisted in mid-air, glomping onto her mother as the latter tried vainly to free herself.  
Mousse, who had recently returned from his Spring induced journey to Low-Earth-Orbit, ran upstairs when he heard the noise coming from his beloved's room. When he saw the cause of the commotion he froze in ecstasy. "Two Shampoos!" he crowed. "Two! At least one of them must be willing to return my affections." He threw back his head and raised his arms in victory. "Yes! This is a dream come tr-"  
*Shampoo, stop trying to throw your daughter out the window,* commanded Cologne. She hopped over Mousse, who she'd casually knocked to the floor with her staff. *Little kitten, don't squeeze your mother so tightly.*  
Spring and Shampoo broke apart instantly. Shampoo's "Yes, Great-Grandmother" was echoed by a "Yes, Great-Great-Grandmother" from Spring.  
*Is it true, Great-Grandmother?* asked Shampoo. *Is this girl my daughter?*  
*Can't you tell?* Cologne gave the two of them a smile that would have frightened a vampire. *She has much of you in her, and much of Son-In-Law as well.*  
Shampoo gave Spring a second look. She noticed the new girl's braid for the first time, and the blue in her eyes. Throwing her arms around Spring, Shampoo gave a wordless cry of happiness. Spring returned the hug and the squeal with equal enthusiasm.  
Cologne let the two girls be for a moment, then cleared her throat. *Why don't you take your daughter downstairs and feed her,* suggested the old crone. *I have a small task for the two of you, but it can wait while you become acquainted.*  
*Yes, Great-(Great-)-Grandmother.* If not for the extra word in Spring's reply, their voices would have been in perfect synchronization.

Part Three: Past Conflicts

Ryoga sat on a bench in a park, waiting for Akari. He'd been camped out by the fountain for the past two days; the eternally lost boy had set up this date a week in advance, and he knew better than to leave once he'd found the place.  
He looked at the handful of flowers he'd picked in his wanderings. They were beginning to look a little wilted. _Should I give these to her? Maybe she'll be upset that they aren't fresh. But if I throw them away I won't have anything else to give Akari. What should I do?_ He roared in frustration, but aside from a few startled pigeons and chipmunks, no one paid any attention. This was the Ranmaverse, after all; cries of frustration were rather commonplace.  
The decision was taken out of his hands, literally. Akari had snuck up on Ryoga while he was lost in his own mind. "For me?" She held the flowers under her nose and inhaled their scent.  
Ryoga looked up, his heart in his eyes.  
"Thank you, Ry-"  
Azure fire engulfed Ryoga's world. He could not see for the brightness of the blaze, could not hear for the roaring of the flames. He felt his mind freeze and shatter, every drop of his blood cold as ice. When the storm was over, he found himself alone on his hands and knees beside a park bench, a collection of flowers scattered by his side.  
_What am I doing here? What happened? Wasn't Akane just here?_ Panic flared in Ryoga's heart. _We were supposed to go out on a date. I know something's happened to her. I just know it!_ He pushed himself to his feet. "Ranma!" His cry echoed across Nerima. "This is all your fault! It must be your fault! Someday, I swear, I'll find my way back to China and make you pay!"  
Quickly stuffing his belongings into his backpack, the eternally lost boy set out to find his love and his revenge.

Ranko had been dreaming of this moment.  
All her life she'd heard stories of Tatewaki Kuno, and how both her parents destroyed him on a regular basis. The Kuno she knew was her rich uncle, the father of her best friend. Sure, he was arrogant, and he sometimes forgot they were living in the twenty-first century, but he was a nice guy. You don't go beating up nice guys.  
Idiot swordsmen who insulted your father, now; those were the people you _should_ beat up.  
_Pop always said he could take Kuno in one shot. I need to know if I'm that good. Pop never would say if I'm as good as he was when he was my age. And I know he won't fight me now. He wouldn't even fight Spring, and she was trashing him._  
Kuno was shouting to the sky. _I've got just one chance at this; I've got to make it count._ Ranko waited until Kuno was looking at him. Then the pony-tailed boy drove her fist into the swordsman's solar plexus..  
Kuno went down, hard.  
"Good shot," said Ranma. Ranko smiled at the compliment.  
Tachi was not quite so enthusiastic. "You hit my father," she breathed. "I can't believe it. You hit my father."  
Ranma knelt down and grabbed Kuno by the hair. Hey, it's only Kuno." He pulled the would-be-samurai's head off the ground. "See, he's OK. It's not like I don't smack the jerk around all the time."  
"You hit my father," Tachi repeated.  
"Hey, you saw how he was acting," cried Ranko defensively. "He was talking trash, and he needed to be taken down."  
"And you," Tachi accused Nabiki. "You let them do this!" The chronologically-displaced girl took a step away from her mother. "How could you?"  
Nabiki sighed. "What should I have done? That's just the way Kuno-chan is. He babbles like a madman, then somebody knocks him out of his misery. After a few minutes he gets back up, with no real harm done."  
"I don't believe any of this," cried Tachi. She turned and ran, her stocking feet sliding on the muddy grass.  
"Tachi, don't leave mad," yelled Ranko. "Look, I'm sorry." The pony-tailed boy swore under his breath, then ran after his cousin.  
Akane watched her future daughter leave. "Wait," she called after him. "Don't go! I don't even know you're name." Then she, too, started running, following the other two.  
Ranma took a step in that direction, but stopped when he saw Ryo. The pig-tailed boy was picking a limp Ukyou up in his arms. "Is she all right?" Ranma asked.  
"She will be, Pop." Ryo shifted his burden until Ukyou seemed to be resting comfortably. "She passed out, so I hit a nerve center to keep her sedated until the danger was gone. She'll be better once I take her home."  
"Oh." Ranma blinked. "That's OK, I guess." Then he started running after Akane and the others.  
Ryo frowned. "Why didn't he stay with Mom and me?"  
"You've got me there," said Nabiki, who was idly brushing Kuno's bangs away from his face.  
"Will he be all right?" Ryo asked, nodding at Kuno's prone form.  
"Of course. This _does_ happen all the time." Nabiki looked away. "In a few minutes he'll wake up and start asking for Akane and his pig-tailed goddess."  
"Then I'll take my mother home to Ucchan's. If you see my father..."  
Nabiki nodded. "I'll give him your message. For five hundred yen."  
"Five hundred? Tachi doesn't charge that, even with twenty years of inflation changing the value of the currency!"  
"Then I haven't taught her very much.." Nabiki stared at the horizon.  
"Him," Ryo corrected. "The Tachi I grew up with is a boy."  
"I'll remember that."  
Ryo started walking away, moving slowly so as not to disturb his mother. "I don't doubt you will."

Cologne had a very simple mission for Spring and Shampoo: find the locket and bring it back. Mousse volunteered to go with them, but Shampoo emptied a bucket on his head and left the duck tied to a coatrack.  
*I think I threw it here.* Spring pointed to a stretch of the canal. *It's hard to tell. The streets all look alike, and I was fighting at the time.*  
*You'll have to go in the water and look,* Shampoo reminded her daughter. *I can't.*  
Spring jumped over the fence and carefully slid into the canal. The water came up to her knees, occasionally splashing higher as she moved about. *I don't see it here, but it's hard to tell. And the locket wasn't very big to begin with.*  
*Keep looking.* Shampoo sat on the top of the fence, watching her daughter work. *You were telling me that you couldn't find anyone to marry...*  
Spring paused in her work. *There were plenty of nice boys around, but they weren't, you know.* The transdimensional Amazon took a few steps downstream. *I wanted someone like Dad, and there just wasn't anyone.*  
*Ranma is very special.* There was a dream-like longing in Shampoo's voice.  
"SHAMPOO?!" roared a voice filled with darkness and rage.  
Shampoo spun around and stood up, balancing on the top of the fence. Ryoga stood on the sidewalk below her, his feet planted firmly on the ground. His hands were curled into white-knuckled fists, and they quivered with pent-up fury. "What Ryoga want?" she asked.  
"I thought you'd gone back to China with Ranma," he growled. "Well, if you're here, then he must be around somewhere. Tell me where he is! Tell me where Ranma is hiding?"  
"Shampoo no know what Ryoga talking about."  
Spring jumped out of the canal to stand beside her mother. *Who is this boy?*  
*He's just some friend of Ranma's.*  
*Is he related to us?* There was a determined intensity in Spring's voice.  
*Him?* Shampoo sniffed. *No.*  
*Good.* Spring cracked her knuckles.  
"Where is Ranma?" Ryoga demanded a second time. Waves of anger radiated from his body like heat from a bonfire.  
Shampoo suddenly realized what Spring was up to. *I do not want Ryoga as a son-in-law!*  
*Sorry, mother.* Spring swept Shampoo's feet out from under her, knocking the Amazon into the canal. *I need a husband. And he is cute, in an animalistic sort of way.*  
"Meow!" screeched Shampoo.  
"If you won't tell me where Ranma is, I'll make you tell me!" shouted Ryoga. His face was an ugly shade of red, and he was baring his fangs.  
"Spring glad to tell where is Ranma... after fight." She pressed her hands together in front of her chest, bowed, and leapt at Ryoga. Her foot caught him in the nose but it was like kicking a rock. *Ouch!*  
"Fine," snarled the eternally lost boy. Spring dodged his punch, but the chain-link fence behind her was torn apart. Ryoga grabbed one of the support posts and pulled, ripping free a large section of metal mesh. He threw this impromptu missile at his assailant, trying to net her like a fish. Spring dodged that attack, too, but just barely.  
The Amazon smiled. _He's good!_ She danced under Ryoga's guard and punched him a few times, but her blows didn't seem to be affecting the enraged boy very much. Any normal human would have required hospitalization by now. Ryoga, on the other hand, was just breathing hard.  
"Boy make good husband," Spring told him as she avoided another piledriver-like punch. "Spring so happy find good fighter not already in family."  
"Husband?" screamed Ryoga. "Is that what this is all about? Has Ranma decided to ruin my life by dragging me back to China with him?" Ryoga's two-fisted punch missed Spring and shattered the sidewalk. "I won't go! I finally have a chance to be happy here, and I won't let Ranma, you, or anyone else take it away from me!"  
Ryoga started glowing.  
A wall of solid air slammed into Spring, knocking her across the street and into a retaining wall. If the Amazon girl knew what a Mac Truck was, she would have been able to make the comparison. Instead, she just passed out.  
"What... What was that?" wondered Ryoga. He wobbled a bit, took an unsteady step forward, then fell to his hands and knees. _If I can do that to Ranma..._

Nabiki sat with Kuno in the school infirmary, watching the fool swordsman as he slowly regained consciousness. _So I really did marry him after all. In two dimensions nonetheless. Looks like I have to do something drastic about Kodachi, then, if what Tachi told me is true._  
Kuno began to stir, and Nabiki pressed a cool washcloth against his forehead. "Stupid dreamer," she muttered under her breath. "I know the first two things he's going to ask for. And I'm not either of th- Ouch!" The mercenary Tendo girl pulled her hand away from Kuno; her fingers felt like they'd been burned by dry ice. "What was that?"  
Kuno's eyes snapped open and he sat up, reaching for Nabiki's hands. "Akane Tendo, I would date with you," he declared. That short speech temporarily exhausted him, and the scion of a once noble house fell back on his cot.  
He immediately popped back up, once more reaching for Nabiki. The girl looked away. _Here it comes._  
"Nabiki, my goddess of finances, where are you?"  
Kuno slumped down a second time, but Nabiki hauled him up by the front of his robes. "What did you just say?" she demanded.  
Kuno stared at Nabiki, reason slowly creeping into his eyes. He crushed the girl to his chest. "Oh, my short-haired angel of mercy. How blessed I am to have you care for me when black ma-" Kuno collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut.  
Nabiki set the dented water pitcher back on the washstand. Her eyes were wide and filled with confusion. _I heard what he just said. I saw what he just did. If it's true, I'm set for life. But how do I make the most of this?_  
_And do I want to?_

Tachi ran as fast as she could, but the short-haired girl knew she'd never outrun Ranko. Having no shoes made for treacherous footing, and her cousin, in either form, was much faster than she was. _I will not talk to her! I will not! How could she even think of hitting my father like that?_  
A passing taxicab was the answer to Tachi's unvoiced prayers. She hailed the driver and jumped in, shouting, "Floor it," as Ranko reached the sidewalk. The driver was obliging, and Ranko was left breathing exhaust fumes.  
"Where to, miss?" the driver asked. His Japanese was thickly accented, and it took Tachi a moment to understand the question.  
"Home," she sighed.

Ryo jumped from rooftop to rooftop with Ukyou cradled in his arms. The streets were too crowded to move quickly, and people would have asked difficult questions. Right now the pig-tailed boy was in no mood to explain why he was carrying an unconscious girl through Nerima.  
He reached Ucchan's without incident. Setting Ukyou down, he tried to pry one of the second story windows open. It wouldn't budge. _What gives? The sill looks like it's been painted over. Mom would never be that sloppy. Ucchan's is her pride and joy._  
Ryo thought for a moment, then decided to risk the front door again. _If that transvestite wants to make trouble, I'll pay him back in spades. I need to get Mom home, and I'm not going to let anyone stop me._ He jumped down to the sidewalk, then slowly opened the door. At least, that was his intention. The doorknob was ice cold, though, and he jerked his hand away with a curse. After flexing his fingers in an attempt to get some feeling back, he tried agian. The door was locked.  
Ryo grumbled a bit in irritation, then fished his keys out of his pocket. As he did, he noticed the sign in the window that said, "Closed."  
The keys didn't fit.  
Ryo took a deep breath to calm his angered nerves. _Of course they would have changed the locks at least once._ He reached up into the awning for the spare key, and smiled when he found it. "At least this much is working right. And if the shop is closed, then that Konatsu guy must not be here."  
Ryo turned on the lights as he walked inside. What he saw shocked him. The restaurant was... drab. Bare bulbs showed him what little effort had been used in planning the decor. The walls were covered with different shades of off-white paint, not the wood paneling he remembered from his childhood. The tables and chairs were mismatched and worn, as if they'd come from a half-dozen garage sales. There were no plants to give the room a much-needed sense of peace and tranquillity.  
"I know I was a little dazed this morning, but I'm sure the place looked different when I first came in. I'll have to ask Mom about it." Then the reluctant martial artist climbed back up to the roof, reclaimed Ukyou, and carried her inside.  
Ukyou's bedroom had been decorated by the same Spartan artist who'd designed the restaurant. A single futon was the only piece of furniture, and from the way clothes were piled around the room, it looked like she'd been living out of a suitcase for a while. Ryo swept some travel brochures off the bed, then set Ukyou down. _China? Why would Mom want to go to China?_ He made his mother as comfortable as possible,  
then struck the nerve center Tofu taught him years ago. "Time to wake up, Mom. I need some answers."  
Ukyou's eyes fluttered open. "What happened?" she asked. "Who are you?" She saw Ryo's braid, and remembered. "You're not a dream."  
Ryo smiled. "No, I'm not. Are you feeling any better?" Ryo clenched his fists reflexively. "That girl Spring hurt you pretty bad."  
Ukyou stretched, wincing at her bruises. "I'll be OK." Her eyes wandered a bit, taking in the room. "Where are we?"  
Ryo frowned. "I brought you home to the restaurant."  
Ukyou shook her head. "This isn't right." She ran her fingers along the wall, wrinkling her nose as the cheap paint flaked off. "Where's the wallpaper I put up last month? And these aren't my clothes." The okonomiyaki chef grabbed a shirt from one of the nearby piles. "I'd never wear something this threadbare." Suspicion flashed in her eyes. "You say you're from the future." She reached for her spatula. "Tell me again how you got here." Ryo grabbed her hand. "Mom, calm down."  
"Let go of me!"  
Ryo backed away. "All right, Mom," he began slowly. "I fought a Chinese Amazon named Spring. I saw her disappear in a ball of glowing light, and I followed after her. Somehow this brought me to the past."  
Ukyou did not look convinced. "Prove it."  
Ryo thought furiously. _I need to tell her something no one else could know, but I can't tell her something that hasn't happened yet. She and Pop are still living in Nerima, so the Gambler King hasn't shown up yet._ "When you and Pop were little, you met a man named the Gambler King," he began.  
"So," said Ukyou. "Everybody knows that. The story came out when Ranma beat him and won the dojo back."  
Ryo turned very pale. _Pop won. If he won, then he didn't lose Ucchan's. And if he didn't lose Ucchan's, then he and Mom never got married. And if they never got married..._  
Ukyou saw what effect her words had on the young man. "Hey, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."  
"I have," Ryo whispered, "and he's wearing my face."

The taxi stopped when it reached the gates of the Kuno mansion. Tachi reached for her wallet to pay the driver, then froze when she looked at her money. _He won't accept this! I forgot they redesigned all the bills at the turn of the century._ "Let me run inside and I'll get the money to pay you," she said, shutting the cab door to keep from hearing the driver's reply.  
The gate was secured by an old-fashioned electronic lock, not the optical scanner Tachi had been expecting. Climbing over the wrought-iron bars was no challenge, though, and the Shooting Star of Furinkan High quickly found herself standing firmly on the grounds of her family home.  
Tachi bypassed all the traps with ease, even avoiding some that Satsuke wouldn't build for another decade. The front door was unlocked, and Tachi pulled off her muddy socks before she tracked footprints throughout the house.  
_All right. Satsuke hides the housekeeping money in the pantry, or, at least, he does twenty years from now._ Tachi found the cash she needed, turned off the security system, appropriated a pair of Kodachi's shoes, and walked back out to the waiting cabdriver. She gave him a good tip; Nabiki would have objected, but Tachi was not very happy with her mother just then. _She's almost as bad as Ranko, letting Father make a fool of himself that way!_  
Tachi stomped through the house, noting all the changes that would be made in the next twenty years. _Mom wasn't kidding when she said Aunt Kodachi was a few yen shy. Look at all the pictures of Uncle Ranma. You'd think the house was a shrine or something._  
Tachi's random wandering eventually led her to what would one day become her bedroom. She couldn't resist peeking inside. "What!" She let the door swing open in surprise. "Why didn't they tell me I had Kodachi's old room?"

Ranko swore as he saw the cab peel away. He tried chasing after the car for a while, but that was beyond even his limits. He slowed down after a few blocks, and then he stopped. "Dammit, Tachi! I only wanna apologize. Why's she always got to make things so hard?"  
A cry of "RANMA" shook the air throughout Nerima. The anger in the shouter's voice made Ranko shiver. "That sounds like Ran. I hope that pig isn't wandering around in the past, too. Damn. It wouldn't surprise me if it _was_ him. He gets lost trying to go to sleep."  
Ranko looked around quickly, reassuring himself that Ran was nowhere around. There was no sign of his fiance anywhere, but there was also no sign of Tachi. "Think, Ranko, think! If I was Tachi, where would I go?" In an aside to himself, the pony-tailed boy muttered, "If I was Tachi I'd let me apologize."  
"There you are," gasped an out-of-breath Akane.  
"Huh?" Ranko looked up. His parents were standing a few feet away from him. Ranma was looking away, his hands behind his back. Akane was still trying to catch her breath, but she was smiling. "Oh, hi, Mom. Jeez, you didn't have to chase after me."  
"But I... wanted... to talk... with you," Akane managed to say. "You left in such a hurry. There are so many questions I want to ask you."  
"Aw, Mom, c'mon. Don't go all mushy on me now. I've gotta go find Tachi and apologize. I don't want her to stay mad at me."  
"Oh." Akane took a step back, her eyes full of hurt.  
Ranko stared at the ground and played with the end of his ponytail. _Now I've done it. I've made Mom cry. Today is going great, just great._  
Ranma stared at the young man who claimed to be his daughter. _He looks like me. And he talks like me._ Ranma could see the tears starting to form in Akane's eyes. _Does it hurt Mom and Pop as much when I say things like that to them? Does it hurt Akane?_ Without meaning too, Ranma took a step closer to his fiancee. She leaned on his arm; Ranma felt her tears on his shoulder.  
The three of them stood that way for a long time, letting their thoughts go unspoken. The wind picked up, blowing leaves around them in tiny whirlpools. Then Ranma looked up and noticed the clouds racing across the sky. "Uh, we'd better go somewhere," he said, breaking the silence.

Ryoga was confused, angry and lost. That wasn't new, but it wasn't common anymore, either. Ryoga's world had recently become a much nicer place. He and Akane were dating. Ranma was gone, dragged off to China by Shampoo. All the bandana-clad boy needed now was a cure for his curse, and then his life would be like Heaven.  
The fall back down to Hell had taken less than an hour.  
Akane was missing. Shampoo was in Japan. Ryoga was not particularly clever, but he knew that 1/2 + 1/2 = 1. Ranma must be in Japan; after all, everything bad in Ryoga's life could be traced back to Ranma. Who else would want to shatter Ryoga's happiness?  
The eternally lost boy charged through Nerima, vainly searching for his nemesis. Where was Ranma hiding? Walls, telephone poles, street lights, and the occasional parked car were reduced to dust, left ruined in the wake of Ryoga's vengeful quest.  
As fate would have it, Ryoga's unique sense of misdirection led him right to his quarry. Ranma, Ranko, and Akane were hurrying home to the dojo, trying to beat the incipient rain. The eternally lost boy, blinded by his own expectations, saw nothing but his arch enemy and his beloved. Of course he jumped to the wrong conclusion. Then he jumped into battle, shouting, "DIE, RANMA!"  
The punch he threw, had it landed, would have crumpled a Volkswagon. Instead Ranma avoided the blow with ease, vaulting over Ryoga's fist. "Jeez, Ryoga. What'd I do this time?"  
Ryoga would have shouted, "How dare you mock my suffering," but he was too angry for words. Instead he answered Ranma's question with a side kick that came nowhere close to hitting.  
Ranma frowned at his sometime ally's futile attack. _What gives? I'm better than Ryoga, but not this much better. It's like he's too mad to fight._ He dodged another rage-powered kick. _Well, If he wants a fight, I'll be glad to give him one._  
Ranma blocked Ryoga's next hand strike, then counterpunched. He didn't expect a fist in the face to hurt his opponent; Ryoga was too tough for that. It would break the lost boy's momentum, though, giving Ranma the room he needed to plan something more effective.  
Ryoga's momentum was broken, all right. Along with his nose.  
Ranma looked at the blood on his knuckles. _I know I didn't hit him that hard._ He took a half step forward, holding out his hand to help Ryoga pick himself up off the sidewalk. The lost boy was having none of that, though, and lunged at Ranma head first. Ranma's offer of aid instinctively turned into a power parry that would have knocked Ryoga back to the concrete.  
Neither blow landed. Instead, Ranko jump kicked his would-be father-in-law. "Jerk. He was only trying to help."  
Ryoga stared at his new opponent, seeing him for the first time. The pain and the anger roaring inside his skull made thinking difficult, but Ryoga managed some, albeit limited, logical thought. _He looks like Ranma. Does Ranma have a brother? Two against one? That doesn't matter. I must save Akane!_ The bandana-clad warrior pushed himself to his feet. "Ranma, I will make you pay for what you've done to Akane!"  
Ranma shrugged. Sometimes there was no arguing with Ryoga; you just had to hit him a bunch of times. The pig-tailed martial artist wiped his hands on his pants, not caring that they were now stained with Ryoga's blood.  
Ranko stepped between the two warring teens. "Let me have him, Pop."  
Ranma blinked. "Huh? I don't need any help."  
"Please?"  
Ryoga attacked before Ranma could respond. Ranko was the nearest target, so the eternally lost boy struck at him first. Ranko blocked the attack, not as easily as his father had, but well enough to keep from getting hurt. Then the fight began in earnest.

Nabiki was confused, and she didn't like it one bit. She could deal with strangers showing up out of nowhere. She could deal with losing money, although she preferred having her teeth pulled. She could even deal with a girl who claimed to be her daughter from the future.  
A Kuno who wanted her was something else altogether.  
Sure, he had money. And he had looks. And he had a way of making a girl feel like the sun, moon, and stars all rolled together. And if what Tachi said was true, he even had a personality underneath all that clueless arrogance. He had everything Nabiki wanted in a man.  
Using him would be child's play.  
Loving him would mean taking a chance.  
_But I never take chances._  
Nabiki waved goodbye to her friends half-heartedly as she left the school. She stared at the ground as she walked, replaying the scene in the infirmary over and over. _"Goddess of finances," he called me, and, "Short-haired angel of mercy." He wasn't joking; Kuno never jokes about love. And he never mentioned Ranma once._  
Nabiki stopped, frowning. _And I had to hit him in the head._  
She looked up, staring at the swirling clouds for inspiration as much as anything else. Then she noticed the large, girl-shaped hole in the wall next to her.  
Nabiki blinked. "That's new." She walked over and took a closer look; even when maudlin the mercenary Tendo girl's instincts for investigation were strong.  
There was a second girl-shaped hole behind the first one, and a third after the second. As far as the eye could see there were signs of casual destruction; it didn't take long for Nabiki to recognize the path Spring made on her way to Furinkan High.  
The short-haired Tendo girl thought for a moment, then shook her head. _Of course I'll check it out,_ she told herself firmly. _It could be important, and he's only a dumb jock, after all._  
A softer voice said, _Liar,_ but Nabiki had years of practice at ignoring her conscience.

An insistent purring brought Spring back to the waking world. She ran her fingers through her bangs, trying to focus her thoughts. *What hit me,* she finally managed to ask.  
The cat sitting on her chest answered, "Meow."  
Memories came rushing back, filling Spring's head. _He beat me._ The purple-haired Amazon rolled to her feet, unceremoniously dumping her mother onto the sidewalk. Spring looked around, making sure Ryoga wasn't there. _I lost. He managed to walk away while I was unconscious, so I lost._ The young Amazon scooped her mother up and hugged her tight. *I can get married. He's not related, so I can get married.*  
Shampoo screeched. Spring was a strong girl, and Shampoo was a small cat.  
*Sorry, Mother.* Spring spun the two of them around in a happy circle. *I'm just so excited.*  
Shampoo hissed, and gave her daughter a dirty look.  
*I'm sorry you don't approve, Mother, but give me time. I'm sure you'll come to love my husband as much as I do.*  
If cats can look skeptical, Shampoo managed to do so.  
Spring didn't care. *I can't wait to tell Father. And Great-Great-Grandmother.* At the mention of Cologne, Spring's sense of responsibility reminded her of her other unfinished task. *I guess we'd better find the locket first, though.* She didn't sound happy about that.  
Shampoo's answering, "Meow," lacked enthusiasm, too.

Ukyou stared at Ryo. Ryo stared at nothing. _They're not married. They're not going to get married. This isn't my world. I don't belong here._ He grit his teeth in an effort to avoid tears. _I don't belong here!_  
Ukyou reached out with her free hand and grabbed Ryo by the chin. "This has really got you spooked." She leaned her battle spatula against the wall; the business end gouged a splinter out of the bare floor. "Look, I know I sounded rough a minute ago, but I do trust you." She shrugged. "Call it mother's intuition, but I have a... feeling... that you're telling me the truth."  
"This isn't what I remember." Ryo relaxed a little, the tension oozed out of his shoulders. "I know that Tachi, and Ranko, and... Spring come from other worlds, but somehow I thought that mine was the real one, and theirs the illusion." His voice was filled with uncertainty. "Everything I know, everyone I care about, is different in some way. You, Pop, Ucchan's. Where does Ryo Saotome fit in?" Ryo's eyes misted over again. "I don't even know if Bell-chan belongs to this world or not."  
"Bell-chan?" Ukyou couldn't mistake the emotion in her son's voice. Until recently, she heard it every time she said Ranma's name.  
"My fiancee," Ryo answered.  
"Your fiancee. You only have one, right?"  
Ryo laughed, a bit raggedly, but a laugh nonetheless. "I may be Ranma Saotome's son, but that doesn't mean I have all his bad habits."  
"What's she like, Ryo?" Ukyou folded her hands in her lap, eager to hear all she could about her son and his future. It was like listening to your own daydreams: pleasant, and without consequence in the waking world.  
"She is a goddess on earth, kind, loving, beautiful." Ryo paused, lost in his own memories. "She's the daughter of Kasumi and Tofu-sensei, so she brings peace and healing wherever she goes."  
"She sounds too good to be true, Ryo." Ukyou liked the sound of her son's name.  
"She is."  
Mother and son sat in silence for a moment. "What will you do now, Ryo?" Ukyou finally asked.  
Ryo looked around the room. "There are still a lot of unanswered questions. I know _how_ I got here, but I don't know where "here" is. I miss Bell-chan, and I want to go home, but I need more information. My memories don't fit this time."  
"Mine don't, either," Ukyou interrupted, gesturing around the room.  
"I was afraid of that. Something is very wrong. There are a few more people I need to talk to before I do anything drastic, though."  
"If it involves Spring, count me in."  
"We'll see." _Sorry, Mom, but the last thing I want to do is let that sociopath near you._ "I hope to resolve this without bloodshed."  
"That's not they way your father would handle it, Ryo."  
Ryo gave his mother a half-smile. "You made sure I didn't catch any of his bad habits." He stood up. "I'd better be going. It was... nice... talking with you, Mom, but the sooner I get going the sooner I can get home."  
Ukyou stood up, too. "I'll go with you."  
Ryo shook his head. "No, there are enough mysteries here at Ucchan's for you to solve. I'll come back soon, and you can tell me what you've discovered."  
"You're right, and this place _is_ a mess." She reached up on tiptoes and kissed Ryo on the forehead. "This might not be your world, Ryo, but I'm still proud of you."  
Ryo smiled, but said nothing. Then he left.  
The skies were grey and heavy with clouds. Freezing air tore through his clothing, making Ryo wish he'd worn a jacket this morning, or twenty years from now, depending on how you counted. Beside him, a sign reading, "Okonomiyaki Ukyou's" twisted in the wind; the pig-tailed boy ignored it. He felt miserable. His mother was proud of him. And he'd lied to her face.  
_Spring!_ Ryo's silent cry of vengeance echoed through his mind.

Tachi rummaged through the kitchen, searching for something to eat. She was wary of any prepared food; horror stories of Kodachi's potions and poisons had given her nightmares as a child. In the end, all she could find were potato chips and a six-pack of Baka Pepper hidden under a loose floorboard. _Satsuke must have stashed this stuff here. I'll have to remember to thank him._  
Food and drink in hand, Tachi settled down in the T.V. room. The clock chimed the hour. _Great. I've got plenty of time to relax before everyone comes home from school. And maybe I can come up with some sort of plan for getting home._ Images of Ranko and Nabiki came to mind, but Tachi forced them away. _I don't want their help! I can do this on my own._  
"Computer, give me business news," she enunciated. That always helped when she was in a bad mood.  
The screen remained blank.  
"Computer, give me business news, _please._"  
Again, nothing happened.  
"In the name of the house of Kuno, I command thee, servant of electrons, to present for my viewing pleasure BUSINESS NEWS!"  
Not a flicker. Tachi thought the screen was mocking her. Then she saw the remote control. "D'oh! What was I thinking. Did my parents even have cable growing up?"  
Tachi bent down to pick up the remote. She saw something dark and slender reflected on the television screen; that gave her the split-second of warning she needed to avoid the ribbon that snapped at her like a whip.  
"OHOHOHOHO! What have we here? I shall have to punish Satsuke for his negligence. Imagine, letting a peasant girl wander through the mansion."  
"Who are you calling a peasant?" Tachi's bokken appeared in her hands like magic. She took a step to the side, waiting for her opponent to make the next move.  
"Why, no one in _my_ family would ever dress that way," Kodachi replied. "Are you one of those silly girls vying for my dear brother's attention?"  
Tachi said nothing. She had been afraid of this more than anything else that could have possibly gone wrong. Aunt Kodachi scared her. Losing all her money, facing one of the monsters that sometimes came hunting after Uncle Ranma, eating Ranko's cooking, all of those were bad, but Aunt Kodachi's laugh gave her more nightmares than everything else put together. And she'd only heard it sixteen times in her life: once a year every year on Kodachi's birthday, when the family would visit her in the sanitarium.  
"Of course you are," Kodachi continued. "OHOHOHOHO! I have half a mind to leave you wrapped up like a present for my dear brother to find." The ribbon snaked out, ripping out the seam in the left sleeve of Tachi's blouse. "At least you would be better than that cow Akane Tendo, or her greedy sister. OHOHOHOHO!"  
Tachi paled. Nabiki bribed the hospital staff to keep Kodachi tranked to the eyeballs, but nothing could keep the woman from laughing.. "I know you have half a mind," she taunted. It was the best she could come up with, and it kept the fear from overwhelming her.  
Kodachi's ribbon tore open the other sleeve. "Why you little harridan! You take that back!"  
_I have to keep her talking._ Tachi let her Aunt's ribbon wrap itself around her blade, then pulled, hoping to yank Kodachi off-balance. "And what if I told you I had eyes only for Ranma?" It was a dangerous gambit, but it might work; anything was better than that laughter.  
"You? In love with my Ranma-sama?" Kodachi's eyes grew even more wild, a feat many would have thought impossible. She pulled back, and only as Tachi's bokken was ripped from her hands did the Shooting Star remember why people called it, "the strength of a madman."  
In desperation, Tachi threw the first thing she could find at her aunt. Out shot the ribbon, slicing cleanly through the six-pack of Baka Pepper. Bitter-sweet carbonated syrup covered Kodachi from head to toe.  
"Oh, you'll pay for that, witch."  
"I never pay for anything." Tachi closed the distance and punched her aunt in the solar plexus. It was the exact same move Ranko had used on Kuno.  
Kodachi sat down hard with the wind knocked out of her. Tachi, as pragmatic as her mother, kicked her opponent in the face before she recovered. The Black Rose didn't get back up.  
Even an unconscious Kodachi was frightening, though, so Tachi ran. Instinct led her back to the bedroom. She went inside.  
There was an open suitcase on the bed; Kodachi had been packing. Curiosity made Tachi look. _Plane tickets to China? What was she planning? Aunt Kodachi wouldn't willingly get herself cursed at Jusenkyo, would she?_  
Tachi looked up, thinking for a moment. She caught a quick glance at her reflection in the mirror hanging from the ceiling. Revulsion at the possible uses for such a device quickly turned to an appraisal of her own appearance. _I sure look like a mess._ Tachi fingered the tears in her clothing, then looked at the half-packed suitcase. _I should have thought of this earlier._  
Ten minutes later, a well dressed Tachi quietly snuck out of the Kuno mansion. _I still need a plan, and I can't come up with anything on my own.._ Once again Ranko and Nabiki came to mind. _All right, all right, I can't stay mad forever._

Ranko was a born fighter. Ryoga had the strength and rage of a monster. Neither could get an advantage over the other; Ranko's skill balanced the lost boy's stamina. Ranma, who was studying the duel with the eye of a expert, couldn't tell who would win. That worried him.  
Ryoga was acting strange... well, stranger than usual. His parries were too slow, and his attacks, while still earth-shakingly powerful, lacked the focus Ranma had come to expect from his friendly foe.  
There was no denying the fact that Ranko was very, very good; that much was obvious, and Ranma could not but feel proud of his supposed daughter. Good as Ranko was, though, the Ryoga Ranma knew should have wiped the newcomer all over the street.  
Akane slugged her fiance in the back of the head, bringing an end to Ranma's analysis. "How can you stand there and let Ryoga fight with my daughter?"  
Ranma winced as he probed his new bruise. "And whaddaya expect me to do about it? It's not like I made her fight. She volunteered."  
"But she could get hurt!" Akane protested.  
"Of course she could get hurt! If you never take any risks, then you'll never learn the true martial arts." Ranma pointed at the battle; the combatants had migrated to the other side of the street. "Look at her; she's doin' fine. You know I'll step in if she's in trouble. I mean, when you get in over your head, don't I always-" Ranma shut his mouth and looked away. Akane blushed.  
Meanwhile, the two brawlers continued their no-holds-barred conflict. Ryoga bared his fangs and growled, his frustration redoubling his strength. Ranko met his attacks with renewed determination. _Kuno was just the warm-up act. This is the real show. Anyone can beat Tachi's dad, but Ryoga was in Pop's class. If I can beat him..._  
Ryoga's thoughts were much less structured. _Must kill Ranma... must save Akane... must kill Ranma's brother... must save Akane._  
Both combatants gave no quarter, but the battle couldn't last forever. Someone had to lose.  
Ranko wanted to match Ranma's skill more than anything else in the world. Ryoga was torn between his desperate love for Akane and his desire for revenge. The time-displaced heir to the Saotome Ryu was the more focused of the two, but the eternally lost boy lived his life in a bottomless pit of despair.  
Ryoga had somehow learned the Shishi Hokodan.  
Ranko didn't know the Moukou Takabisha.  
A bolt of solid despair slammed into Ranko and knocked him back across the street. Ryoga, bloody, battered, and drained, stared at Ranma. "You're next," he managed to gasp.  
"In your dreams, P-chan." One punch from Ranma sent the bandana-clad teen to dreamland.  
Akane, meanwhile, sat on the sidewalk cradling Ranko's head in her lap. "Please be all right," she whispered. "I just met you... I don't want to lose you now."  
Then it started to rain.

Happosai bounced from rooftop to rooftop, a bag full of stolen underwear slung over his shoulder. Life was good. Oh, he missed Ranma all right, but the boy had been a nuisance. And disrespectful. Soun and Genma would never have dared to hit their master, and they certainly wouldn't have interfered in any of Happosai's plans. _Maybe I'll look Ranma up in a few years, but for now, it's panty-time!_  
A canal cut through Happosai's path, causing the dirty old man to stop for a moment. He thought about jumping across the waterway, but that seemed like too much work. Then he saw a blue glow coming from under the waves. Like a crow spotting something shiny, Happosai made a bee-line for the source of the light.  
The master pervert left his bag of precious unmentionables on the bank, then carelessly waded into the canal. Now and again the cold water splashed over his head, so it was a choking and sputtering Happosai that returned to shore.  
The source of the blue glow turned out to be a simple silver locket. It was rather battered and abused; the chain was broken, and the latch was bent, effectively locking it shut. At the moment, Happosai didn't care. The locket was obviously magic, and the old fool had a craving for all things arcane.  
"Oh, you find locket for Spring," said a perky voice. "Thank you."  
Happosai looked up. And up. The owner of the voice was balanced on the top of the fence. She was a young, beautiful woman. Happosai crained his head back for a better view, almost falling over in the process.  
The girl hopped down, then held out her hand. "You please give Spring locket?" she asked again. Happosai started to drool. A beautiful girl was standing next to him, and she wasn't running away.  
Shampoo, in cat form, lay nestled in the crook of Spring's other arm. The cursed Amazon hissed a warning at her daughter, a warning Spring didn't understand until she got a better look at Happosai. *You!* Revulsion filled her normally cheerful voice.  
"Me!" Happosai agreed. "Me what?"  
"Spring remember dirty old man. Great-great-grandmother chase you out of village." Spring kicked at Happosai, a vicious blow that would have launched him into Low-Earth-orbit had it connected. The master pervert was on his guard, though, and avoided her attack with ease.  
"What fun!" cried Happosai as he danced around the purple-haired girl's attacks. This was almost as good as fighting with Ranma.  
"You give locket back now!" Spring shouted.  
"You want this?" Happosai stopped his mad dodging for a moment and dangled the locket by its broken chain.  
"Yes!"  
"Then you'll have to catch me!" Happosai took off running. No man of his height and age should have been able to move that fast, but the ancient hentai was a master at breaking the rules.  
Spring chased after him. She wasn't about to let the panty-thief steal her locket. Besides, this was Happosai, and every woman born (or cursed, in her father's case) had the right to beat him to a pulp.

Ryo ran through Nerima. He knew where he wanted to go, and there was no sense in wasting time. _She's the only other person I haven't talked to. I hope she can shed some light on what's going on._  
The house wasn't as old as he remembered, but Ryo had been expecting that. He studied a sapling growing in the middle of the yard; his mind saw it twenty years older, with a swing hanging from one of the branches. _This is the place._ He walked up to the front door and knocked.  
A middle-aged woman, handsome despite years of separation from her family, answered the door. "Yes, may I..." Her voice trailed off as she studied Ryo's face. "Ranma?"  
Ryo swallowed. "No, I'm a... friend of his." He watched the hope in Nodoka's eyes die, and cursed himself for not thinking. This would cause her pain.  
"Oh. Would you... like to come in?"  
"Yes, please."  
Nodoka set him down in the living room, then went to the kitchen to fix some tea. She poured a cup for Ryo. "Do you... do you know where Ranma is?"  
Ryo shook his head. "No. We were friends in Junior High, and I haven't seen him in a while. I was hoping you could tell _me_ where he was."  
Nodoka bowed her head. "Ranma's father used to send me postcards. Months ago he said they were going to China. That was the last I ever heard from them."  
Ryo could hear the tears frozen in his Nodoka's voice. _I've lied to my mother. Now I've lied to my grandmother. I knew Pop hadn't seen Nodoka until he and Mom returned to Nerima, but I still came, and I still asked her questions. This must be like torture. What kind of a monster am I?_ "Ranma once mentioned a 'Tendo Dojo.' Do you know anything about that?"  
"Ranma's father, Genma, and Soun Tendo used to be good friends." Nodoka set her teacup down. "Poor Mr. Tendo has not been well. He has been bed-ridden, and he hasn't spoken in months."  
"Oh." _I needed to know that. I need to know everything I can find out. But did I need to hurt her so much?_ "I guess it won't do me much good to ask there, then."  
"No."  
Ryo and Nodoka sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. Then, finally, she spoke. "Could you please tell me about my son? I haven't seen Ranma in so long..."  
_I can't stay. Every time I turn around I find a new lead to chase, and I'm running out of time. I need to find a way home. I need to find that purple-haired Amazon and pay her back. I need to find out why Mom didn't recognize Ucchan's. I need to get back to Bell-chan!_  
_I need to be a human being._  
"Ranma looks a little like me. He wears his hair in a braid like mine... well, he started first, so I'm the one copying him. He's never lost a fight in his life, but he's not a bully. He's kind, and...

Ranma, now in girl form, picked an unconscious P-chan up by the bandana. "You're lucky Akane wasn't watching," she muttered as she kicked Ryoga's clothes behind a convenient bush. "Now behave yourself. I've had a bad day, an' I don't want you to make it any worse."  
Ranko, meanwhile, was slowly stirring. "What was... who hit... Tachi, did you get the number of... the heir of the Saotome Ryu can't lose."  
Akane brushed at Ranko's bangs. "Shhh. You'll be all right."  
Ranma joined his fiancee and would-be daughter. "Jeez, Akane, who'd ever think you'd be so mushy?"  
"This is all _your_ fault," the youngest Tendo daughter accused in a hushed voice. "If you'd stopped the fight like I told you, my daughter wouldn't be hurt."  
"He- she's not hurt, well, not bad, anyway." Ranma knelt down. "Right, Tiger?" Ranko opened his eyes, and Ranma nodded. "See, I told you. Any kid of mine is gonna be a fighter. H- she can take a hit or two."  
"I'll be all right," Ranko muttered. He sat up slowly. "Where'd Mr. Hibiki go. I want a rematch."  
"That's my b- girl," Ranma crowed. She playfully slugged Ranko in the shoulder. "Now c'mon. I hate standing in the rain."  
Akane tried to help Ranko to his feet, but the pony-tailed martial artist shook her off. "I'm fine, Mom. Really."  
"But Ryoga hit you so hard."  
"It's nothing!" Akane took a hesitant step back, while Ranko turned away. The rain hid the future girl's tears, but even so, she did not want her parents to see her cry.

Ryo ran through Nerima. _Now I see why Pop insisted I spend so much time exercising. It seems like I've spent all afternoon jogging from one place to another. And this rain certainly isn't making my life any easier._  
"Ha ha ha! Can't catch me," a gleefully dirty old voice shouted.  
Ryo, when he heard those words, stopped dead in his tracks. _Of course he'd be here. It's his century, after all._ The pig-tailed boy looked around for a good spot to stage an ambush. _I don't know what the sick pervert is up to this time, but whatever it is, he's got to be stopped._ A nearby lamp post looked ideal. _And I'm the only one I know who can take him down at will._  
Ryo clambered up the rain-slick metal pole, then waited. In less time than he would have preferred, Happosai came bounding along. The old man was dancing madly through the puddles, letting a purple-haired girl get close enough to launch a futile attack at him before dodging away.  
_Purple-hair? That's Spring!_ Ryo growled, baring his teeth much as Ryoga would have. "You are mine!" The pig-tailed boy tensed, ready to pounce on the Amazon and avenge the hurt she'd caused his family.  
Then reason hit him, and he stopped.  
Spring was chasing _Happosai._  
Happosai was the dirtiest old man alive.  
_No! This isn't fair! Spring deserves a thrashing, but then Happosai escapes! To get my revenge, I have to throw justice away! Can I do that? Mom could. She buried her entire past for revenge. And Pop, he never gave up once in his whole life._  
Ryo shivered, his body reacting to the stress of thinking so hard. _I thought I could be cold. I thought I could be ruthless. I could lie to Mom, I could lie to Grandmother, all in the name of vengeance. Well, I wasted an hour I couldn't spare just to cheer Grandmother up, so Ryo Saotome isn't as cold as he claimed to be. But am I ruthless enough to let Happosai go?_  
The chase carried itself under Ryo's perch, and the boy jumped. _No, I'm not. What does that make me?_ His leap-kick caught Happosai square in the jaw, and the little old man went down with a splash.  
Something shiny flew out of the pervert's hand; Spring jumped up and caught it. "Thank you, pig-tail boy," she called back over her shoulder as she ran away. "Dirty old man is strong opponent. Spring no think she could beat by self."  
"Great," Ryo muttered. "Like I didn't feel bad enough about this already." Happosai picked himself up. "I don't know who you are," he said menacingly, "but you spoiled my game. Someone needs to teach you to respect your elders." He threw a Happodaikarin at Ryo.  
Ryo was ready for that. He caught the bomb in his left hand, licked his right index finger, then pinched out the fuse. "Ordinarily, I don't like to fight." He tossed the now-useless bomb away and took a step closer to Happosai. "I don't even like to fight with you." He cracked his knuckles. "But you're a disgusting old pervert, Happosai, and if I don't stop you, no one will."  
"Oh, really?" Happosai narrowed his eyes at Ryo. "And what makes you think _you_ can stop _me_." The old man began to grow, swelling like a balloon until his head was level with the surrounding buildings.  
Ryo held his ground. "Because you've tried for three years to break into Bell-chan's bedroom, and in all that time I haven't let you succeed once."  
"Really? Not once?" The giant seemed impressed, and puzzled. "I don't remember any girl named Bell-chan, though."  
"It hasn't happened yet. I'm from the future." Ryo's tone of voice shifted slightly, becoming more conciliatory. "I hear you're something of a time traveler yourself."  
"I had this wonderful magic mirror," Happosai lamented, "but it got broken. I found a magic locket that reminded me of my poor mirror, but I lost that, too."  
"You don't say?"  
"Yes, and it's all your fault!" Happosai's voice echoed across the neighborhood. "If you hadn't kicked me for no reason, I'd still have it, and that lovely girl with the purple hair would still be chasing after me."  
Ryo blinked. _I knew this was all Spring's fault, but I didn't know how. Now I need to find her more than ever._  
"Yes, it's all your fault," Happosai continued. "You're almost as much of a spoilsport as Ranma."  
Ryo risked a quick glance at his watch. "I should be," he taunted. "I'm his son."  
"Well, then." Happosai raised a fist the size of a small car, then stopped. A loud hiss filled the air, and the ancient pervert started to shrink, deflating like a tire with the air let out. "Uh, oh."  
"'Uh, oh,' is right." Ryo walked over to the exhausted old man. "I told you I didn't like to fight." He picked Happosai up and stuffed him in a nearby mailbox. "But with you, I don't have to."  
Happosai protested weakly, but Ryo ignored his begging. "I know you'll be back, but for now, at least, you won't be bothering anyone."  
The mailbox, who was really Tsubasa is disguise, disagreed, but by then Ryo was gone, sprinting through the wet streets in search of his Amazon half-sister.

The rain started coming down harder, so Ranma, Ranko and Akane ran the rest of the way to the dojo in silence. "You'll want to get out of those wet things and into something dry," Akane told her daughter once they were inside. "You take a warm bath, and I'll find something for you to wear."  
"Yeah, Mom," the time-displaced teen said listlessly.  
Ranma stared after her departing fiancee. "Uh, in the future, is your mo- is Akane so..."  
"No." Ranko wandered in the direction of the bathroom.  
_Good,_ Ranma thought to herself, although she didn't know why.  
P-chan sneezed. "I'm just gonna warn you one more time, Ryoga. Be good." He tossed the pig to the floor; P-chan stared at her evilly, then raced off towards Akane's room a fast as his little legs could take him.  
"Filthy pig," Ranma muttered. She grabbed a towel from the linen closet and dried herself off as best she could. _At least that much is normal. I mean, I carried the stupid pig home the whole way, and I don't think Akane even noticed once._  
Kasumi, her arms full of folded laundry, walked into the room. "Oh, hi, Kasumi," Ranma said. "Wait 'til you hear what happened to me 'n Akane today."  
Kasumi stopped. She blinked once. "Oh, my," she whispered.  
"What? Did someone rip my shirt open again?" Ranma checked his clothing; it was torn from his fight with Spring, but not in any revealing manner.  
"It's nice to see you again, Ranma," Kasumi said slowly and evenly. "When you went back to China with Shampoo, we were all sure you were never coming back."  
"Went to China? Shampoo? What're you talking about?"  
Kasumi put a hand to Ranma's forehead, checking for a fever. Ranma pulled away. "Kasumi, what's goin' on?"  
Soun answered for his daughter. "You and your father have dishonored us, Saotome," he cried from the top of the stairs. The Tendo patriarch looked thin and haggard, and his robes had seen better days. "How dare you show yourself here?" The man's voice was thin and dry, like a skeleton left chained to a dungeon wall.  
Ranma paled. Akane's father sounded unpleasantly like Cologne.

The door to the Nekohanten flew open and Spring rushed in. *I'm home, Great-Great-Grandmother,* she called out. There was no immediate response, though, except for some plaintive quacking coming from a closet. Spring ignored Mousse and set Shampoo down; together mother and daughter quietly crossed the dining room, leaving puddles of rain water on the floor to mark their way. *Great-Great-Grandmother?*  
Cologne's voice came floating from the living room. *In here, little kitten.*  
Now that she was assured that everything was as it should be, Shampoo padded off to the kitchen in search of hot water. Spring, on the other hand, followed the trail of the old crone's words, proudly carrying the battered silver charm by its broken chain. *I have the locket, Great-Great-Grandmother. And I have a husband!*  
*Do you, now?* Cologne sat cross-legged in the center of the living room, her gnarled staff balanced across her lap. She stared owl-eyed at an incense burner, carefully monitoring it as it filled the air with pungent smoke. *Bring me the locket,* she commanded. In a softer voice she added, *And tell me about this husband of yours.*  
Spring handed Cologne her locket. *His name is Ryoga, and he's really cute.* Spring blushed at her own enthusiasm. *I mean, he is handsome, Great-Great-Grandmother, and very, very strong.*  
"Who would have thought that the old fool could have crafted something like this?" Cologne asked herself. *Go on, little kitten.*  
*He is... untamed, like an animal. And he has powerful Chi!*  
"The power to change worlds," Cologne muttered, "fashioned by the hands of a pervert. What purpose could he have intended?" She shivered. "It is best not to dwell on such things." *I know this Ryoga, little kitten. He will make a fine husband for you.*  
*No!" Shampoo shouted. She rushed into the living room, still only half-dressed after changing back to human form. *I will not have Ryoga as a son-in-law!*  
*Be silent, Shampoo!* Cologne demanded.  
Shampoo opened her mouth to respond, but said nothing. It didn't pay to defy Cologne.  
The only sound in the room was the continued drip of water coming from Spring's braid. Then Cologne shattered the silence. "You may come out now, Nabiki Tendo."  
The mercenary girl proudly strolled into the living room, acting as if she was an invited guest and not an eavesdropper. She fanned the air in front of her face, trying to dispel the cloying scent of the incense. "You wouldn't happen to have a towel, would you? I left my umbrella at school today, an oversight, true, but today was a bit unusual."  
Cologne nodded, and Shampoo dashed over to the linen closet. After a short fight with Mousse, she returned with an orange and white striped towel. "Thanks," Nabiki said.  
"What is your business here, Nabiki Tendo?" Cologne asked.  
Nabiki shrugged as she toweled her short hair dry. "Everything is my business."  
"Do not waste my time with games, child." Cologne locked eyes with Nabiki; for them it was as if the rest of the world had been set aside. "I have little patience at the moment."  
"Having Ranma's daughter arrive from the future could be a bit inconvenient, yes," Nabiki agreed. "My daughter and I had a disagreement that's left me confused all afternoon."  
"Your daughter?" Cologne tried to hide her surprise, but Nabiki had trained herself to spot any crack in an opponent's defenses.  
_That's an opening!_ "Yes, my daughter. For the right price I'd be willing to tell you all about her; you know how parents are, always eager to brag about their children."  
"I am not Ranma, to fall for your extortions, Nabiki Tendo. You will tell me about your daughter; be sure of it."  
Nabiki swallowed, but managed to hide her nervousness behind the towel. "You'll want to know about the other time travelers, then, about Akane's daughter and Ukyou's son."  
"Yes, you will tell me about them, too." Cologne's threat hung heavy in the air.

Akane rummaged through her closet, looking for something pretty for her daughter to wear. There was a large pile of discarded dresses on the floor; one landed on top of P-chan as he rushed into the room. "Squee!" he shouted.  
Akane bent down and picked him up. "Oh, P-chan, isn't it exciting?" she asked as she held the pig close. "I have a daughter!"  
P-chan's response to Akane's announcement was a brief surge of panic, followed by desperate anger and more panic. He wriggled out of her grasp, then ran from the room. "What's gotten into him?" Akane wondered. Then, setting that thought aside for a moment, she went back to sorting trough dresses.  
Eventually she found one that would do; Akane bundled it up with a dry set of clothes for herself, then carried the whole package to the bathroom. "I'm coming in," she called as she slid open the door.  
Ranko, wrapped in a towel, stared at the dress Akane had brought for her. "A dress? Mom, you've gotta be kidding. How can I fight in a dress?"  
"You don't like it?"  
Genetic imperatives kicked in, causing Ranko to speak before she recognized the hurt in her mother's voice. "Duh, Mom. Like, when have I ever worn a dress?"  
"Oh." Akane handed her the shorts and tee-shirt she'd picked out for herself. "Will these do?"  
"They're better than nothing, I guess, unless you've got any of Pop's clothes."  
A shout of, "Ranma prepare to die!" drowned out any response Akane would have made.

Ryo, soaked through, stood hunched over a pay phone as he searched through the directory. _I've got to find Spring... and fast. Now what was the name of the restaurant Shampoo used to work at? Neko-something, I think..._ He flipped pages, trying his best to shield the phone book from the rain. "Nekohanten!"  
Ryo turned to the appropriate spot, then choked back a very vulgar curse. The page he needed had been torn out.

"Whaddaya mean, dishonored?" Ranma asked. "I didn't do nothing."  
"Liar!" Soun croaked. "You left us, Saotome." The Tendo patriarch took an unsteady step down the stairs. "You broke your engagement to Akane when you married that... that... Amazon." Soun continued his wobbly descent. "You shattered the pact that would have united our houses." His eyes burned red, as if all the tears had been torn out of them. "You have no honor, Saotome. I should kill you where you stand."  
"Father, please," Kasumi said as she rushed up the stairs to steady him. "You're not well. You should be resting."  
"You bet he's sick," Ranma said. "He's talking crazy."  
"Don't taunt him, Ranma," Kasumi all but begged. "Can't you see your being here has made him worse?"  
"Huh?" Ranma was never quick on the uptake, not unless there was a fight involved. "Kasumi, I don't get it. He was fine this morning."  
"Liar," Soun wheezed. He tried to pull away from Kasumi, but his frail and wasted body had no strength. It was all he could do to stay upright.  
Then Ryoga's shout of "Ranma, prepare to die," filled the house.

Tachi took her time walking through Nerima. She enjoyed playing tourist; the Twentieth century had been so charmingly archaic. The full charge in her umbrella-field meant she could stay in the rain as long as she wanted, and it cleared the streets of pedestrians, leaving the short-haired kendoist alone with the sights, and her thoughts..  
She passed a building with a girl-shaped hole in it. "Ha, that looks like something Ranko would have done. I guess the acorn doesn't fall very far from the tree." Then she frowned. _But I am _not_ like my mother. She's a cold, heartless, opportunist._  
The next building had a hole in it, too. And the one after that. Tachi started following the path they made.  
She ended up in front of a restaurant. "Nekohanten," she read. _This is where the Chinese Amazons lived and worked while they were in Japan._ She peeked in a window, then froze.  
Nabiki was inside.  
_What's she up to?_ Tachi looked around for another way in; she spotted an unlocked window, pried it open, and slid inside. _Thank you, Satsuke,_ she thought as she silently dropped to her feet. _Father was wrong; ninja training does have its uses._  
Tachi could hear Nabiki's voice coming from another room, so she stealthily crept through the house in search of her mother. Something in the air made her light-headed, but she fought it off by reciting the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, backwards.  
"This house, this restaurant, now belong to another time," she heard an old, dry voice explain. "You would not want to be left standing in an abandoned building, would you?"  
"I guess the incense stays," Nabiki agreed. The voices were coming from the other side of a door; Tachi was out of high-tech tricks, so she resorted to the time-honored method of sticking her ear to the keyhole.

P-chan ran through the house, and he didn't get lost. Akane had recently painted a series of snout-high arrows along the wall. All the little pig had to do was follow them and he could go anywhere he wanted to on the first try. In this case, he wanted to go to Ranma's room. _No, it's not Ranma's room, not anymore. It's my room now. Now and forever!_  
A hot teakettle sitting on a low table was P-chan's objective. He upended the furniture, transformed, and dressed as quickly as he could. "Ranma, prepare to die!" he shouted.  
Ryoga ran back out into the hall, this time following the arrows painted on the ceiling. They led him to the staircase, where he saw Kasumi and Soun. The weak, older man was leaning on his daughter; he needed all his strength to keep from falling down. _Ranma, you'll pay for making Mr. Tendo get out of bed!_ Ryoga vowed.  
A red-haired girl wearing nothing but a towel launched a fist at Ryoga's face, shouting, "Rematch time, Mr. Hibiki."  
Ryoga saw spots, and responded with a blow that would have ground her bones to dust had it hit. Normally the eternally lost boy would have died before attacking a girl, but that restriction did not hold against Ranma or his Amazon allies. They deserved everything they got. "Die, Ranma!"  
"Who are you calling, 'Ranma?'" The girl punctuated her words with a kick to the jaw.  
"I'm not falling for your tricks, Ranma. Your disguises won't fool me this time. This is the end!"  
"Yo, Ryoga," Ranma called from the bottom of the stairs. "Stop picking on my daughter. If you want to fight me, I'm down here."  
Ryoga's mind was a mass of confusion. _That's Ranma down there. But I'm fighting Ranma. Are there two Ranma's? No, then one of them would be a boy, and these are both girls? I know Ranma has a brother. Does he have a sister, too? OhMyGosh! What if I've attacked an innocent woman?_ "Who are you?"  
"I'm Ranko!" She punched Ryoga in the kidneys.  
"Are you related to Ranma?"  
"Yes!" She punched him again.  
Ryoga sighed in relief. She was guilty, then, by association. His conscience clear, the bandana-clad warrior kicked Ranko in the stomach.  
Akane ran between the combatants. "You leave my daughter alone!"  
_Akane is defending this girl? The Amazons must have brainwashed her again. They'll pay for that, too!_ Ryoga pushed his girlfriend aside so that he'd have a clear shot at Ranko.  
Akane didn't like that.  
She hit Ryoga.  
Hard.  
Ryoga's heart of glass shattered.

Tachi felt her blood run cold. Nabiki was discussing the end of the world with some ancient Amazon, and the mercenary Tendo girl was treating it like a business deal.  
"So you're trying to tell me that everyone and everything now belongs to another universe? I don't buy it. I mean, I still have all my old memories."  
"My great-great-granddaughter was the nexus of this change. You and all those who encountered her have remained unaffected."  
"Well, then, this hasn't done you much good. Everyone who's anyone has had a run-in with Spring. I know Ranma certainly has."  
"True, Nabiki Tendo, true. But now, _I_ have the power. I will become the nexus of the new reality. Son-in-law is not here; he will remember only the world I want him to remember."  
"What about Ranma's other children, or my daughter, Tachi?"  
"I do not know. Perhaps they will return to their own worlds. Perhaps they will cease to exist." Cologne's lack of emotion made it clear that either outcome was acceptable to her.  
"I know you're the new nexus. I'll remember everything."  
"Perhaps," whispered Cologne, "or perhaps not."  
"Time out here! No need for threats. What do I care if Ranma marries Shampoo and moves to China? Spring is a nice enough girl, a bit short-tempered, true, but that's genetics for you. No, you're plan sounds fine to me. I've got it on good authority that my future looks bright, no matter which reality I live in."  
Tachi gasped. Her mother had just sold out the entire universe.  
"I had not expected you to be so... reasonable, Nabiki Tendo."  
"Please! I know a winning side when I see one."  
"True. Shampoo, please show our... ally to the door."  
Tachi frantically scrambled away from the keyhole, but there was nowhere to hide. Light from the living room caught her, framing her like a model posing for a photographer.  
"What you doing here?" Shampoo demanded.  
"Uh, Girl Scout Cookies?" Tachi bluffed.  
"You spy! You die!"  
Tachi drew her bokken. "You won't find the Shooting Star of Furinkan High to be easy meat." Outside, lightning ripped the rain-filled sky apart.  
"Kids these days," Nabiki sighed as she slipped past the combatants.  
Tachi spun her sword in a slow circle, waiting for Shampoo to make the first move. The future girl knew she was good, perhaps even great, but Shampoo was a legend. _At least I'm armed._  
Shampoo's first attack knocked the bokken from Tachi's hands.  
_So much for that idea._ Tachi closed her eyes and prayed. She knew exactly how much of a chance she had against Shampoo in unarmed combat. A snowball in Avernus would last longer.  
"Meow!" screamed a very angry cat.  
"Don't just stand there," Nabiki said as she dropped a now-empty bucket

over Shampoo. "Run!"  
The two girls raced through the Nekohanten. "I thought you'd betrayed us," Tachi sobbed with relief.  
"Oh, please. What kind of a businesswoman would I be if I couldn't lie convincingly at will."  
"You no be dead," Spring answered.  
"Time for plan 'B,'" Nabiki decided. She yanked the door of the linen closet open as she ran past, and Mousse flew out. The blind duck arrowed in on Spring like a heat-seeking missile. "That should buy us some time," she said as Mousse and the Amazon collided.  
Once outside, the two girls ran for the dojo as fast as they could. "How much did you hear?" Nabiki asked her daughter.  
"Everything."  
"Good. We'd better split up, then." Nabiki shielded her eyes with her hand, trying her best to see through the downpour. "At least one of us needs to make it back to Ranma; we're both way out of out league, and he's the only one with a chance of stopping Cologne."  
Tachi smiled. "Mom, for the first time today, I think I agree with you."

Ryoga stood frozen as his life crumbled around him. _She hit me. Akane hit me._ "A- Akane-chan, why?"  
"I told you to leave my daughter alone."  
"Your... daughter?"  
"Yes, my daughter."  
"Mom, would you please get out of the way?" Ranko complained. "I'd like to finish the fight."  
"Your... daughter."  
"Hey, Akane, how hard didja hit him?" Ranma asked.  
"Ranma, shut up," Akane snapped. "Ryoga, are you all right?"  
"No," Ryoga managed to say. Then the eternally lost boy ran down the hall, crying. There was a loud crash, and a gust of cold, wet air blew through the house.  
"Come back here!" Ranko shouted. "We have to finish our fight!"  
Akane grabbed her daughter by the ponytail as she ran past. "You are not going outside dressed like that, young lady."  
"But, Mom!"  
"No 'But's.' Get dressed."  
"Now she decides to act like normal," Ranko grumbled as she marched back to the bathroom.  
Below them, Soun swooned. Today had just been too much for the man's frail constitution.

Tachi splashed through the wet streets. _Why didn't Aunt Kodachi have any practical shoes?_ Ahead of her, she could just make out the Tendo dojo. "I'm almost- Oof!" The future girl tripped over something small and landed face first in a large puddle. That much water shorted out her umbrella-field, and Tachi's new clothes were soaked through.  
"Damn. What did I trip over?" Tachi turned around and saw an unconscious pig. "That looks like Mr. Hibiki.." She picked P-chan up by a bedraggled bandana. "It _is_ Mr. Hibiki. What is he doing out here?"  
"Nosey cousin want put pig down now?" Spring asked.  
Tachi's next few thoughts did not bear repeating.  
"Let's not even pretend that I am going to put up a fight," she said. "Why don't you just take me back to the Nekohanten and let your Great-great-grandmother deal with me? Does that sound good to you?"  
Spring thought for a moment. "Oh Kay," she decided. "But you no try trick Spring."  
"I wouldn't dream of it." _Mom was right. They _are_ dumb as sheep. And this way I get to bring Ryoga with me._

Part Four: Immediate Action

Shampoo frowned as she lit yet another candle. The purple-haired Amazon would have rather gone chasing after Nabiki, but the rain made that impossible. Thus Shampoo was given the boring job of preparing the restaurant for some sort of ritual. She'd already cleared the dining room of furniture, and next she had to help draw mystic symbols on the floor.  
The last candle flickered a bit, but then it settled down and started burning brightly. Shampoo sighed at the sheer drudgery of the work. She took the time to kick a small wooden cage as she left the dining room to fetch more supplies. "Stupid Mousse. If duck no interfere, Nabiki no get away."  
Mousse just quacked. There wasn't much else he could do.  
*Great-Great-Grandmother, I'm home,* Spring called as she dragged a reluctant Tachi through the door.  
Cologne looked up from where she sat meditating in the center of the living room. *So you are, little kitten.* The old ghoul hopped to the doorway on her gnarled wooden cane. She studied Tachi for a moment. "You must be the daughter Nabiki Tendo spoke of. I am impressed that you managed to sneak up on me before; few have managed to do that."  
"Thank you," Tachi said primly. She hugged P-chan a little tighter to mask her nervousness. The heartbroken pig, lost in the depths of blackest depression, just cried little pig tears.  
*What should I do with her, Great-Great-Grandmother?*  
"Japanese, little kitten. Speak Japanese in front of our guest." Cologne gave Tachi a wide, mirthless smile. "That is the only polite thing to do, after all. Wouldn't you agree, Tachi Kuno?"  
*There is no need to discomfort yourself on my account,* the short-haired girl answered back in perfect Chinese.  
Cologne's owl-eyes narrowed. *I am impressed.*  
_And I'm an idiot,_ Tachi told herself. _Sure, I did the honorable thing, and Father would be proud of me, but Mom wouldn't have revealed her secrets so soon. That's one trump wasted._  
*Great-Great-Grandmother?* Spring asked.  
*Your parents have a bad habit of ruining the best of plans, Tachi Kuno.* Cologne openly eyed the kendoist up and down. *I see you have acquired many of their traits; I will not risk the chance that you have inherited that as well. Tie her up, little kitten, and leave her with Mousse.*  
Tachi smiled ruefully. *I suppose a hot bath and a change of clothing is out of the question, then.*  
*We are Amazons, Tachi Kuno, not barbarians. A hot bath can be arranged.* Cologne held out her hand. *The pig, however, stays here. Spring needs to spend time with her husband.*  
Tachi gave P-chan to the ancient Amazon. _There goes my last ace. I hope Mom made it to the dojo all right. Otherwise I'm in big, big trouble._

Akane and Ranma helped Kasumi carry Soun back up the stairs. "I don't understand, Kasumi," Akane asked her sister as they tucked the weakened old man in his bed. "Daddy wasn't sick when Ranma and I left for school this morning."  
The eldest Tendo daughter put her hand on Akane's forehead. "You don't have a fever," she said, puzzled. "Ranma, did you use some sort of Chinese magic on my sister?"  
"Of course not!" she protested. "Why would I wanna do something like that?"  
"Nothing's wrong with _my_ mind, Kasumi. It's everyone else who's acting crazy."  
Kasumi led the others downstairs. "I'm going to call Ono," she told them as she picked up the receiver. "He should be able to explain everything."  
"You do that," Ranma said. "Meanwhile, I'm gonna get changed."  
She met Ranko as the titian-haired girl was leaving the bathroom. "All yours, Pop," she told him.  
"Fine. I'm gonna grab a dry set of clothes first, though." Ranma walked down the hall, wondering at the arrows painted all over the walls and ceiling. _What gives? It's like Ryoga moved in or something._ Then Ranma reached her room.  
Or, to be accurate, what _had_ been her room.  
If Ranma had been raised by her mother, she would have shouted something along the lines of: "Where the heck's all my stuff?" Unfortunately for her, Genma had a much coarser vocabulary than Nodoka. Ranma's exact words at this point were very colorful and descriptive. They were also very, very obscene.  
Akane and Ranko came running into the room. Kasumi followed a moment later at a more dignified pace. "What did you expect, Ranma?" she asked her. "You moved to China with Shampoo, and your father ran away. Your old room was just sitting here empty, so when Akane started dating Ryoga, we set it up so that he could sleep over when he needed to."  
"Why does everyone keep saying I moved to China with Shampoo?" Ranma still sounded angry. "I never did that. I'd never do that. I don't l-" She choked back her words and glanced at Akane.  
"You'd better believe you'd never do that." Akane muttered.  
"You'd better not have done that," Ranko echoed. "And what's this about you dating Mr. Hibiki, Mom? The man's a pig."  
Kasumi blinked. "But you did go to China, Ranma, and you are dating Ryoga, Akane, and yes, of course he is a pig... oh, I'm sorry, I don't know you're name."  
"It's 'Ranko,' same as it was when I ran into you this morning at Uncle Tofu's clinic."  
"But I haven't gone to see Ono today. We were supposed to go out later tonight."  
"Aargh!" Ranma shouted. "This is nuts! Can somebody please tell me what's going on?"  
"I think I can explain." Nabiki said as she walked into the room.  
Ranma sighed. "At least _someone_ can." She dug into her pocket. How much is this gonna cost me?"  
Nabiki shook her head. "This one's on me." She looked around. "Has Tachi been here?"  
"No..." Ranma drawled. "And why are you bein' so generous all of the sudden?"  
"I was afraid of that," Nabiki said softly. "And as for your last question, Ranma, let's just say this one is personal."

Cologne poured hot water over an unresponsive P-chan, turning him into an unresponsive Ryoga. "I have need of you, boy."  
"I don't care," he muttered. The eternally lost boy just sat on the floor, hunched over himself. "Akane hit me. She doesn't love me. Without her, the world is an empty place. I might as well turn back into a pig and give myself to Azusa."  
"I can think of many more useful alternatives, boy." Cologne circled Ryoga, whispering. "You know who is responsible for your sorrows. I can give you your revenge. For a small service, or two."  
"Revenge." Ryoga tasted the word. Somehow the old ghoul made it sound so new, so enticing.  
"Ranma is coming here." Cologne continued circling Ryoga. "He intends to spoil my plans. I will be busy, defenseless. You can stop him. You can have your revenge."  
"Revenge!" Ryoga stood up. "RANMA, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"  
Spring poked her head into the kitchen. *Great-Great-Grandmother, is everything all ri-* The Amazon blushed red when she saw what her newly-won fiance was wearing, or, rather, wasn't wearing.  
*Little kitten, why don't you get your groom some clothes,* Cologne suggested. *I have much to do, and little time to do it in.* She chuckled dryly at the irony.

Ranma, now a boy, and dressed in a set of Ryoga's clothes, scratched his head as he tried to understand Nabiki's story. "So you're saying Cologne's to blame for all of this."  
"No," Nabiki explained for the third time, "_Spring_ is to blame, but Cologne is going to make the problem worse. If we don't stop her, you _will_ end up married to Shampoo in China, and Akane _will_ really start dating Ryoga."  
"And what about me?" Ranko asked.  
"You probably cease to exist."  
"We can't let that happen!" Akane cried. "We have to do something, Nabiki!"  
"That's why I'm about to call in some favors," said the mercenary girl.

"Meet you at the Nekohanten? Sure, Nabiki."  
"No, Ryo isn't here. He left to find some answers. I thought he was going to the dojo."  
"Don't we have time to look for him?"  
"I... see. All right, I'll be there."

"Ah, my angel of business acumen. Hearing your voice is the sweetest of pleasures. Surely Heaven itself smi-"  
"Meet you at the Nekohanten? Why, surely would I date with you, my goddess, but I do not know where that is. And my accursed sister has good Satsuke running an errand for her, so I can not call upon him for-"  
"Why certainly, I have a pencil handy. What true samurai would be so unprepared as to not keep an implement of writing near the ph-"  
"Very well, then. Three blocks from school...

"And you said Ryoga disappeared?" Nabiki asked. Akane nodded, so the middle Tendo daughter crossed his name off of the short list she'd compiled. "Well, that's six. You, Ranma, Ranko, Kuno, and Ukyou."  
Ranko frowned. "That's only five."  
"I'm going, too," Nabiki said. "Cologne has my daughter. I'm getting her back."  
"Fine," Ranma declared. "But can six of us take Cologne, Shampoo, and my daughter? I can handle any one of them, but that leaves the other two for the rest of you. No offense, Nabiki, but even Akane'd eat you alive."  
"Hey," his fiancee shouted. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
"There's no problem," Ranko interrupted. "I mean, I can hold my own." _I hope. But if I couldn't beat Mr. Hibiki..._ The pony-tailed girl clenched her hands into fists to keep them from trembling.

Ryo tore open yet another phone book. _Five tries. Who would have though that five people would want the same stupid page. Was the restaurant really that good?_ He flipped the book to the appropriate spot. The he blinked. _It's here_ "It's here!" He grabbed the page and started to rip.  
_What am I doing?_ Ryo read the address to himself aloud twice, making sure he had it committed to memory. _Spring, there's no escape for you this time!_

Kodachi watched her brother rush out into the rain. "Where is he off to in such a hurry?" she wondered out loud. "Well, there's only one way to find out." The gymnast reached into her closet for an overcoat. _And if there's any justice in this world, I'll meet that spiteful little wench who ruined my best leotard._ "OHOHOHOHO!"

"Be careful," Kasumi said.  
Ranma shrugged. "This'll be a piece of cake."  
"I only wish Ono wasn't on duty today. I had him paged, but he hasn't called back yet. I know he could help you."  
Akane hugged her sister. "Don't worry, Kasumi. We'll be fine without him."  
"Mom, Pop, are you ready?" Ranko asked from the door. She was carrying one of Ryoga's transuranic umbrellas to ward off the rain.  
"Yeah, I'm ready," Ranma called.  
Akane nodded. "Let's do it, then," said Nabiki.

Tachi tugged at the ropes that bound her hands behind her back, but they were tied tightly, and there was no way the kendoist could break them. Her sonic knife was in the purse she'd appropriated from Kodachi, and the purse was hanging from Mousse's cage. It might as well have been back in the future for all the good it was doing her now.  
Ryoga, dressed in one of Mousse's spare robes, stood by the front door. He was growling a lot, and his eyes were glazed; Tachi couldn't tell if he had been drugged, or if he was just fatally depressed. With Mr. Hibiki, you never knew.  
Shampoo and Spring, at Cologne's direction, were putting the finishing touches on a circle of power. The mystic diagram took up most of the dining room floor. Tachi looked desperately for any flaw in the pattern, and object she could knock over to disrupt Cologne's plans. She found nothing; the ancient Amazon was good at what she did.  
"Quaaak," Mousse wailed.  
"You said it," Tachi agreed.

Ukyou was waiting for Ranma and the others a block away from the Nekohanten. "What's all this about, Ranchan?"  
"We have to save reality," Nabiki explained.  
The okonomiyaki chef threw her a sour look for interrupting. "That helps a lot, Nabiki. Could you be any more vague?"  
The mercenary Tendo girl took on a lecturing tone. "Look, reality is not what it used to be. Take your restaurant, for example. I'd be willing to bet that it doesn't look the same now as it did this morning."  
Ukyou frowned. "You'd win that bet. It looks like it was decorated by a cheapskate. All the kitchenware is sub-standard. And Konatsu is missing. It's like he was never here at all."  
"He probably wasn't. We're living in a different world, now, one where Ranma married Shampoo and moved to China." Nabiki swept her hand around in a circle, taking the five of them in. "We remember the way things used to be, because we've all interacted with Spring." She frowned in the distance. "Other people didn't."  
Kuno saw his two loves and came charging down the street, heedless of the driving rain. "Akane! Nabiki! Oh, what sweet rapture is mine! Now I need not choose between- urk!"  
Nabiki returned Ukyou's battle spatula while the others face-faulted. "Case in point."  
"Kuno likes _you_?" Ranma asked.  
"Stranger things have happened," Nabiki said, a touch defensively. She picked the kendoist up by the lapels. "Now, does everyone understand the plan?"  
"What plan?" Ukyou asked.  
"It's easy, Aunt Ukyou. We run inside and beat everybody up."  
Ukyou stared at her childhood friend. "Ranchan, did you come up with this plan?"  
Ranma shrugged. "Hey, it's worked before."

There was a knock at the door.  
"RANMA, DIE!" Ryoga shouted. He charged towards the front of the building, but Cologne tripped him before he went very far.  
"You do not want to go outside just now, boy. Turning into a pig will not help you. Let them come to us."  
Come they did.  
Ranma swaggered into the Nekohanten, Ukyou and Akane flanking him. "Hey, y'old hag," he called. "Nabiki told us what you're planning, and I can't say I like-"  
Chaos hit.  
Shampoo leapt at Ranma, only to be intercepted by Akane before she could glomp on to the pig-tailed boy. Ranko, who had been left outside as part of a surprise attack, saw Ryoga pick himself up off the floor and jumped in through the window. Shards of glass ran off her transuranic umbrella like raindrops. Ukyou threw a handful of spatula shuriken at Spring, who knocked them out of the air with her bare hands.  
"...it," Ranma finished. "Oh, well." He cracked his knuckles.  
Cologne pointed a bony finger at Ranma. "Do you really think your allies can stop mine, Son-in-law?" She swept her staff around the room, taking in all the combatants. Ranko was holding her own against Ryoga, but Shampoo was forcing Akane back, and Spring was taking Ukyou apart.  
"Damn." Ranma ran across the room and grabbed Ukyou, catching a kick in the side from Spring as a reward. "Go help Akane," he told her.  
"But I _want_ that girl," Ukyou argued.  
"Ucchan, you're way out of your league." He blocked another kick from his daughter, and jumped over a foot sweep. "Don't argue, just go,"  
*Why are you trying to stop us, father?* Spring asked. *This way we can be together.* She sounded confused, but she didn't slow her assault down one bit.  
"Huh?" was Ranma's only reply. He couldn't speak Chinese.

Ranko swung her umbrella like a club, smacking Ryoga in the side of the head. "This time we finish it, Mr. Hibiki! No escapes, no interference."  
Ryoga let the pain wash over him. "Cologne told me what you are." His eyes seemed to glow with righteous indignation. "You're an evil spirit Ranma conjured up to confuse me and Akane. Well, I won't believe any of your lies, not any more. I'll send you back to hell, and then I'll send Ranma after you, and everything will be right again."  
Ranko kicked her would-be father-in-law in the stomach. "Wake up and face the real world."  
Ryoga punched the titian-haired girl in the face. "My world was heaven, until you stole it from me."  
"Stupid pig!" Ranko stabbed with the umbrella.  
"Demon!" Ryoga grabbed the umbrella and broke it in half.  
Then the fighting and the name calling got really nasty.

Cologne watched the battle rage around her. Ranma had his hands full with Spring; he could not bring himself to hurt his daughter, so his advantage over her was wasted. Ryoga and the red-haired girl were evenly matched, trading blow for blow with equal savagery. Shampoo was hard-pressed, but them she was facing two-to-one odds.  
The ancient Amazon studied the locket in her hands. The battered silver caught the candlelight at odd angles, making the charm seem to glow with azure fire. _Can I use this to end the fight?_ she wondered. _No, I still know too little about the power it contains. I had best end this fight myself, the old-fashioned way._ She twirled her staff like a baton.  
"Hold, troll, and go no farther. I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, say to you, 'Cease.'" Thunder rocked the Nekohanten, blowing out some of the candles.  
Cologne turned around slowly. "I should have expected this, Nabiki Tendo. Son-in-law led a frontal attack, but that attack was a diversion, allowing you to sneak in through the back."  
Nabiki tugged at the ropes holding Tachi captive. "Ranma's rather good at tactics," she agreed. "And we all knew I wouldn't do any good coming in through the front door."  
"Indeed." Cologne's staff shot out like a snake, neatly disarming Kuno and hitting him in the head. The kendoist fell like a rotting tree. "And it seems you will do little good here."  
Nabiki took a step back and held up her hands. "Uh, can't we make a deal?"  
"The time for deals is past, Nabiki Tendo." Cologne raised her staff and struck.  
"I couldn't agree more, Amazon," Ryo said as he intercepted the blow. The pig-tailed boy twisted his wrist a fraction, and the gnarled cane shattered like a toothpick.

Kodachi didn't know what was going on, but she knew she should be involved. That horrid Tendo girl and some peasant with a giant spatula were double-teaming the Amazon who had stolen her Ranma-sama away. Ordinarily the Black Rose would have cheered such a move, but another, more beautiful possibility danced before her eyes. _If I defeat the Tendo girl by honorably hitting her from behind, then I can take her place in the fight against the Amazon. Both of the women I despise most in the world will be at my mercy._ "OHOHOHOHO!" Kodachi threw off her overcoat and attacked, her ribbon snapping like a whip.  
Akane heard the laugh. "Kodachi?" She turned, blocking the attack at the last moment. "What do you think you're doing?"  
Kodachi smiled. It was a beautiful sight, in much the same way that many poisonous flowers are beautiful. "Why, Akane Tendo, I'm just clipping away at all the dead wood that stands between me and my Ranma-sama. OHOHOHOHO!"

Ukyou and Shampoo were hurt; at one time or another during the fight both of them had fought against a force noticeably more powerful than themselves. Now, with Akane out of the picture, the sides were even. Ukyou hefted her battle spatula. "Round two?" she asked.  
Shampoo smiled softly as she raised her bonbori. "Shampoo always ready."  
Anything else they had to say was drowned out by the ring of metal on metal.

Cologne studied her new opponent. "You, too, are a a child of Ranma. Would you strike at a helpless old woman?"  
Ryo laughed dryly as rainwater pooled on the floor. "I don't know you Amazons very well, but I know you're fare from helpless."  
Cologne narrowed her eyes. "You are much less rash than your half-sisters."  
"That's because I'm a scholar, not a fighter."  
"A pity for you, then." Cologne darted forward and around, striking Ryo in the small of the back with one finger.  
Ryo should have fallen to the floor, paralyzed.  
He didn't.  
Ryo grabbed Cologne by the wrist. "I told you I was a scholar. Tofu-sensei taught me quite a bit about anatomy." He saw the locket in her hand, a heart-shaped piece of silver. "I've also learned a little about magic, enough to recognize power when I see it."  
Cologne scratched at the pig-tailed boy, pulling away. "You don't know the forces you're dealing with!"  
"I know enough to want to keep them out of your hands."  
Cologne reached into her robes and threw a small packet of powder to the floor. A white cloud of smoke appeared, hiding her. "That will prove more difficult than you think."  
Ryo picked up Kuno's bokken. "That's what you think."

Ranko and Ryoga broke apart. Their fight was inconclusive; neither could get the upper hand. _I did something today,_ Ryoga thought. _Twice. What was it? What did I do?_ Desperation fueled self-doubt. _I must beat this demon! I must! If I don't, I'll lose Akane forever!_  
_This is my last chance,_ Ranko thought. _I've got no excuses now. I'm in my own body, and nobody's interfered. I know I'm good. Pop said so. I can beat this guy! I know I can!_  
Earlier that day, Ranko had been on the receiving end of a Shishi-Hokodan. She was Ranma's daughter. She picked up new combat skills as quickly as Tachi picked up spare change.  
She was also Akane's daughter. Her Chi was strong.  
Shishi-Hokodan met Moukou Takabisha.  
Ranko knew what she was doing.  
Ryoga didn't.  
A bolt of solid confidence ripped through the lost boy's despair, knocking him across the room. Candles went flying, and the outer ring of the mystic design was torn, rendering Cologne's ritual useless.  
"Yes!" Ranko shouted. "Who's next?"

Akane was tired, and Kodachi was fresh. "What my Ranma-sama ever saw in you I'll never know," the fey girl said as she threw a set of clubs at her opponent.  
Akane blocked with her arms. "He's not yours."  
"Oh, he is." Akane had to dodge a razor hoop. "He just doesn't know it yet. OHOHOHOHO!"  
"If that's so, why don't you have a child here fighting for you?" Akane taunted.  
"A child?" The gymnast frowned. Akane's obvious lack of breeding had obviously taken it's toll, and the poor girl's mind had cracked. Still, the idea of having a child with Ranma-sama did have it's obvious appeal.  
"Look!" Akane pointed past Kodachi just as Ranko polished Ryoga off.  
Kodachi smiled. "My dear Akane Tendo, not even I would stoop to such an obvious ploy." She struck with her ribbon, but Akane ducked the blow. Her weapon wrapped around _something_, though.

Cologne was worried.  
For every trick she tried, the pig-tailed scholar had a counter. Blinding powder didn't work; he closed his eyes. Pressure points didn't work; he knew them all. Poisoned darts were no use; he knocked them out of the air. Even hot and cold water were of no use; this boy had never been to Jusenkyou.  
That left the locket.  
Cologne raised it above her head. _If I can use it to summon others from my tribe..._  
Kodachi's ribbon wrapped around the charm, and pulled it from the ancient Amazon's hand.

Ranma heard Ranko's cry of triumph. "Hey, tiger, I'll trade you," he shouted as he blocked another kick from Spring.  
"You're on, Pop." The titian-haired girl pounced, knocking her transdimensional half-sister to the floor. "I'm on a roll now!"  
"No!" the purple-haired girl argued. "You on Spring! Get off!"

_What do I have here?_ Kodachi wondered. She didn't have long to ponder the locket, though, since Akane wasn't above attacking a distracted opponent. That was how she hit Ranma most of the time, after all.  
Kodachi's last thoughts before consciousness faded were about the strong children she and Ranma would have.

Ukyou had given her childhood to the study of okonomiyaki-style martial arts. Shampoo was a warrior born of warriors, trained from birth in the ways of fighting. One-on-one, Ukyou never had a chance.  
Ryo saw this. "Mom," he shouted. Just then, Kodachi's ribbon ripped the locket from Cologne's hands. The pig-tailed boy couldn't have cared less. "Leave her alone!" he shouted. Bokken raised, Ryo leapt at the Amazon.  
Shampoo met his furious attack, parrying with one mace while striking with the other. Ryo felt the bonbori as it connected with his skull. That only added to his rage.

Ranma looked around. Akane was fine. Ranko was fine. Kuno was out, but that didn't matter. Nabiki was still trying to get her daughter free. Ukyou was hurt, but her son was here, and he seemed to have that situation in hand. That left Cologne, and the guy in the mask and cape with the long, black hair.  
_The guy in mask and cape?_  
"Who are you?" Akane asked.  
The newcomer stood up straight, his flowing hair snapping like a flag as he brushed it back with his hand. "I am the devilishly handsome business-suited warrior, Shutaro Kamen," he declared. "You have struck down my mother, a queen among women, and thus, even though it pains me to harm such a beautiful girl, in the name of the house of Kuno, I WILL PUNISH YOU!" He made passes in the air with his hands, ending his solliloquey by pointing at Akane.  
Ranma bust up laughing. "What're ya gonna do, throw roses at us?"  
"I will teach you to mock the fighting style of Shutaro Kamen." The boy waved his hands some more.  
Ranma laughed harder. Akane was worried. The stranger looked an awful lot like Kodachi.  
Black roses sailed through the air, stapling both Akane and Ranma to the wall. Akane struggled a bit, but she couldn't free herself without doing irreparable harm to her clothing. Ranma didn't have that problem. The roses holding him up went through his flesh.  
Ranma roared, anger covering the pain he cause himself as he ripped free from the wall. "You're gonna wish you'd never been born," he grated.  
Shutaro Kamen held his arm out straight, and a fancy cane appeared in his hand. "We shall see about that."

Nabiki cursed under her breath. She still couldn't get the knots undone. "There's a knife in the purse," Tachi told her. "Use that."  
Nabiki grabbed the bag from where it hung on Mousse's cage and upended the whole thing. "I don't see a pocketknife," she said as she rummaged through the pile of cosmetics, checkbooks, and credit cards.  
"It's not a pocketknife. It's a sonic knife. It looks like a highlighter."  
"Oh." Nabiki held up a short green piece of plastic. "Is this it?"  
Tachi shook her head. "No, that _is_ a highlighter. Wait, Mom, forget about me. Aunt Kodachi has the locket. Go get her!"  
"But I can't leave you like this. I left you earlier today, and look what happened."  
"Mom, we're talking about all of reality here. That's more important than me. Go!"  
"That depends on your priorities," Nabiki said. "In the future, I might disagree, but for now, anything to make my little girl happy."  
"Mom!" Tachi whined.  
"I'm gone."

Ranko and Spring rolled around on the floor like a pair of wildcats. All normal rules of combat had flown out the window; the two girls had been reduced to scratching, biting, and pulling hair. Neither of them had ever trained in Martial-Arts-Catfighting, so Spring's superior martial legacy was of as little use as Ranko's greater confidence.  
Ranko did have one advantage, though. Spring's braid was waist-length, while her own pony-tail only reached her shoulder blades. That gave the Japanese girl more hair to pull.  
"Give up. Give up!" Ranko said as she tried to yank her opponent's braid out by the roots.  
"Aieee!" Spring cried.  
"Give up!"  
The Amazon sank her teeth into Ranko's arm, revealing her advantage over the titian-haired girl. The Musk Dynasty knew what they were doing with their eugenics program. Shampoo had given her daughter a fairly sharp set of fangs.

Ryo had stored up a lot of anger during the past few hours. He was lost in a strange world, separated from his fiancee, and helpless to do anything but watch as his mother was assaulted. Shampoo was good, but she'd been hurt, and Ryo wasn't holding back.  
The apprentice healer took a moment to make sure his mother would be all right, then looked around the room for anyone else to vent his rage on. Spring and Ranko were locked so close together that he could barely tell where one started and the other began. Cologne was nowhere to be seen. That left the guy in the cape fighting his father.  
_Guy in a cape?_ Ryo studied the stranger. _He looks like pictures Tachi showed me of his aunt. And he looks like... Pop! Oh, no! Not another one. How many brothers and sisters do I have?_

Ranma was mad, and he was making mistakes.  
Not big ones, but this mask guy took advantage of all of them. He was fast, he saw everything, and he fought dirty. "Enough of this," Ranma grated. "Moukou Takabisha!"  
"Buster Cloak," Shutaro countered. The masked boy wrapped himself in his cape, and Ranma's Chi passed through him with all the effect of a damp breeze.  
"Huh?" Ranma said.  
Shutaro's cape flew open and he posed, much like Batman would have. Ranma had a moment to blink before his own Chi-attack knocked him across the room.  
"Have you had enough yet?" Shutaro asked Ranma.  
Ranma, still lying on the ground, held his head in his hands. " ," he answered.  
"Speak up!" the boy demanded. "I can not hear you."

Shutaro took a step closer. "I command you, in the name of the House of Kuno, answer me!"  
"No," Ranma said. He stomped on the floor, breaking through the wood and ripping up the plank Shutaro was standing on. The masked boy stumbled, and as he regained his balance, a Moukou Takabisha caught him square in the chest. Ranma smirked. "Sucker."

Nabiki walked around the remaining fights, trying to stay out of everyone's way. What with throwing roses and Chi-attacks, the Nekohanten was becoming a dangerous place.  
She reached Kodachi's prone form without incident. The unconscious gymnast still held the locket in her hand. "So much trouble for such an ugly piece of jewelry."  
"It is the power that we all find attractive," Cologne told her.  
"Or just keeping it from you," Akane said. She had escaped from Shutaro's roses by wriggling out of her sweater.  
The three woman looked at each other. The they all dived for the locket. After a moment of struggling, they all looked up. Ryo stood above them, the silver charm glowing blue in his hand. _Kodachi used this to summon her son. And Spring used it to drag us across the dimensions. I'd bet Tachi my last dollar that this hunk of metal is the reason why Ucchan's looked so funny. The old amazon said this was power._  
_I have the power, now._  
He looked around the room. Ranma and Akane were standing together, while Ukyou pushed herself to her feet with her combat spatula, alone. _I could change that._  
Ranko and Spring were still rolling around on the floor. _I always wanted sisters, even if violent, maniacal ones. I could change that._  
Cologne was staring at him, murder in her eyes. _These Amazons have been nothing but trouble. I could change that._  
He thought about his fiancee. _Bell-chan is waiting. I don't need to change anything._  
The world vanished in azure fire.

Part Five: Delayed Consequences

The Nekohanten was empty, except for four teenagers. "Ryo, did you do that?" Tachi asked from across the room.  
"I think so," the pig-tailed boy replied. "I wanted to go, and I wanted the rest of you to come with me. That seems to be what happened, so I'll take credit for it."  
"That's good." Tachi looked around. "What happened to that Shutaro Kamen guy? I know he was from the future, like us. Why isn't he here?" "Kodachi's son vanished when I grabbed the locket." Ryo shrugged. "I assume he went back to whatever world he came from."  
"That's even better." The short-haired girl tugged at the ropes around her wrists. They were still tied tight. "Can you cut me loose?"  
"Let me deal with my half-sisters first. If I don't stop them, Ranko and Spring won't have any hair left." Stopping a catfight between two highly trained martial artists was no easy task, though, and Ryo's ethics prevented him from using pressure-point techniques when there was no medical need.. Finally, after a bit of three-way wrestling, he managed to separate the two girls.  
"Hey, where'd everybody go?" Ranko asked.  
"Nowhere," Ryo answered. "We're the ones who left."  
Ranko scratched her head. "Does that mean we won?"  
"Yes, we won.." Tachi slid across the floor the best she could. "Now will _someone_ please untie me?"  
Ranko went to help her cousin, while Spring confronted Ryo. "Pig-tail boy beat Great-great-grandmother?"  
"Yes, I did."  
"But pig-tail boy is not strong fighter. Pig-tail boy think too much. How pig-tail boy win?"  
Tachi stood up and rubbed her hands together, trying to restore circulation. "He won _because_ he thinks so much."  
"Thinker beat fighter?"  
Ryo nodded.  
Spring pondered that for a moment. "Then Spring no need to find strong

fighter to marry. Spring need find strong thinker."  
"Or a strong dreamer, or a man with a strong heart," Ryo suggested. He swept his arms wide. "The world is open to you. Find a man you love, one who loves you back. He's bound to be good at something."  
The Amazon smiled. "Spring like that idea." She kissed her half-brother on the cheek. "Spring like that idea lots. Thank you."  
"You're welcome," Ryo whispered, but the girl was already half-out the door.  
"Bye-bye, nosey cousin," she called, her voice light and cheerful. "Bye-bye hair-pulling girl. Maybe we fight again some day?"  
"Uh, sure," Ranko said. "Any time you want. I'm ready for it." The titian-haired girl held her hand in front of her chest, palm up. A glowing ball of energy appeared. "I'm always ready."  
"Good," Spring said. And then she was gone.  
"Is it a good idea to let her loose like that?" Tachi asked Ryo.  
The pig-tailed boy shrugged. "It's her world." He held up the locket. "And I have this. She won't be doing any real harm, especially if she's decided she likes brainy types."  
The locket glowed blue, and the world dissolved in frozen fire.

Ryo, Tachi, and Ranko stepped out of thin air and into the middle of a dimly-lit restaurant. "I think this is where you want to be," Ryo said as he looked around. "I'm not sure; I've never been here before. Knowing what you want seems to be the key, but the Nekohanten doesn't exist in my world."  
Tachi nodded. "This is the place. And the century. My mom made my father take us here two days ago. They still haven't changed the decorations."  
"Lucky you," grumbled Ranko. "Pop's idea of eating out is goin' to Ucchan's." Ryo frowned at his transdimensional half-sister. "D'oh, sorry," she apologized.  
"What do you plan to do now?" Tachi asked, nodding at the locket Ryo held tight in his fist. "You can go anywhere with that. Anywhen. The possibilities are endless."  
Ryo stared at the battered piece of heart-shaped silver. "Knowing what you know, having spent a day in the past, what would you do?"  
Tachi made a face. "I'd throw it in the deepest well I could find."  
"That sounds like a good idea to me."  
"Three for dinner?" asked an elderly Chinese man. He held out menus.  
"That," said Ryo, "is my signal to go home. Bell-chan is waiting."  
Ranko took a menu from the man and studied it, trying to puzzle out the Chinese writing. "Well, it's been cool knowing you, Ryo." She punched the boy in the shoulder with her free hand. "Keep practicing; you've got some good moves hidden in there."  
"Don't listen to her," Tachi advised. "When you start thinking with your muscles, you stop thinking with your head. It was nice meeting a boy my age with a brain, Ryo. I almost wish you had a counterpart in my world."  
Ryo stared at her in surprise. "I'm teasing," she told him. "I mean, you're an almost-married man, and Bell-chan is my friend."  
"Oh." Ryo shook his head. "You did have me spooked for a bit. Remember, the Tachi Kuno I know is a boy."  
Tachi laughed, and patted Ryo on the cheek. "Go on, get out of here."  
Ryo held up the locket, and vanished in a flash of azure flame.

Ranma blinked. Ranko and the others were gone. "Did you do something, you old ghoul?" he accused Cologne.  
"No, Son-in-law. Your son did this by himself."  
"So, we won?"  
"Yes, Ranma," Nabiki said. "We won." She looked down at Kuno's prone form. _Will he remember?_ she wondered.  
Cologne sensed the Tendo girl's question. "Those of us who were conscious when the second generation vanished will retain all of our memories." She let her gaze wander across Ryoga, Shampoo, Kuno, and Kodachi. "For the others, it will be as if today never happened."  
"Oh," Nabiki said softly.  
Ukyou, ever practical, stared at Cologne. "Now what? This is all your fault, after all."  
The Amazon held her hands up. "Fate is to blame. I merely seized the opportunity I was presented. You can not fault me for that. In my place, you would have done the same." Nabiki frowned, and Ukyou looked away, but both knew Cologne was right. "Besides," the old woman continued, "if you blamed me for everything that went wrong in your lives, you would never have the time to live them."  
Ranma's stomach grumbled. Philosophy made him hungry.  
"I believe I have enough ramen for everyone," Cologne suggested, "but I would need to have someone clean up the restaurant while I cook it."  
Ranma licked his lips. "I've got nothin' better to do."  
"Ranma, what are you thinking!" Akane accused.  
"Ranchan, what are you doing?" Ukyou echoed.  
"Hey, I'm hungry," he said, as if his fiancees would accept that as a valid excuse.  
Cologne smiled to herself as Ranma was thoroughly pummeled. Things were back to normal already.

The elderly waiter brought the check to the table. "You owe me for my lost clothes," Tachi reminded her cousin.  
Ranko made a face, then dug into her pockets. She came back with keys, a half a pack of gum, and some loose change. "Uh..."  
Tachi gave the red-haired girl a resigned smile. "I'll just add it to your tab." She reached over the back of her chair for her purse. It wasn't there. She checked under the table. Still no luck. "Oh, expletive deleted."  
Ranko blinked, not understanding. "Huh?"  
"My purse. Mom dumped it out all over the floor, and I didn't get a chance to grab my stuff before Ryo brought us here."  
"And that means?"  
"I hope you like doing dishes." She turned her pockets inside out. "As it stands, you've got more money than I do."  
"Excuse me, Miss," the waiter interrupted. "I almost forgot. Your mother asked me to give this to you the next time you came in." The old man handed Tachi a brightly wrapped box. "She said it was a surprise."  
Tachi and Ranko exchanged confused looks. Then the short-haired girl opened the package, carefully sliding the ribbon off to save the bow. Inside was a purse, twenty years out of style, and attached to the purse was a note.  
"This is absolutely the last time I pick up after you, Young Lady," it said in Nabiki's tiny, economical, script. The world "last" had been crossed out, though, and replaced with the word "first."

Nabiki stared at the small pile of artifacts she'd gathered from the floor of the Nekohanten. Most of them were unremarkable; ballpoint pen technology was destined to remain static over the next twenty years. The sonic knife was the only intriguing piece, but it was a self-contained unit, and she couldn't figure out how to get the case open.  
There was a knock at the door. Nabiki swept everything into a desk drawer, turned off the lamp, and called, "Come in."  
Akane walked over to her sister. "Hi," she said.  
"'Hi,' back. What's up, sis?" Nabiki spun her chair around. "Has Dad been bugging you and Ranma to get married again?"  
Akane shook her head violently. "Like I'd ever marry that pervert. Even in other worlds he's chasing after other women."  
Nabiki smiled secretly. Akane was blushing, although she did her best to hide it. _Silly girl, you can't lie to_ me.  
"No," Akane said, a trifle rushed. "I was wondering how _you_ were doing, Nabiki. I mean, it seems pretty clear that you're going to be marrying Kuno in the near future, but when he woke up after the fight, he was chasing me all around the restaurant." She sat down on her sister's bed. "And then when Ukyou and Ranma got in a water fight when they were washing dishes, well, you saw what happened."  
Nabiki pursed her lips. "Why should I care? It's not like I believe in destiny or anything."  
"But you seemed so sad."  
"I was," the mercenary girl agreed. "Tachi left for the future, and she didn't tell me anything about the stock market. Do you realize how much money I could have made?"  
Akane frowned. "And that's all you were upset about?"  
Nabiki pressed her hand to her chest. "Please! This is _me_ we're talking about. What do you think?"  
"You're right," Akane agreed. She stood up. "Good night, Nabiki."  
"G'night, Akane." The middle Tendo girl picked up an account book and started flipping pages.  
Akane smiled as she closed her sister's door. _I know I can't lie to you, Nabiki, but you can't lie to me, either._

Ranma leaned back. The stars were the same as they ever were. _I wonder why I thought they'd be different. Everything's back to normal, or, at least, that's what Cologne and Nabiki say._  
Ranma closed his eyes. _I can't believe I'd ever let Shampoo marry me._ He shuddered in the cold night air. _Or Kodachi. That's even worse. Ukyou, maybe, I guess, and Ak-_ He derailed that train of thought.  
_My kids seemed nice enough, even Spring, when she wasn't trying to kill anyone... well, Shutaro was whacked, but he sure could fight. Ranko had my spunk, and she was cute, just like her mo-_  
Ranma sat up. That was more than enough introspection for him.  
A shooting star traced a path of fire across the sky. Ranma blinked, then instinctively looked to Akane's window. She was leaning on her windowsill, making a wish. _In the starlight, she sure looks cute. If Ranko's any indication, she must look that good in the future, too_  
Akane opened her eyes and saw her fiance staring at her. "What are you looking at, pervert?" she yelled as she tugged her nightgown close.  
"Huh?" said Ranma. "You didn't think I-"  
"Huh" was, of course, the wrong answer. A dumbbell caught Ranma square in the face, knocking him off the roof and into the pond below. "Who ever said you were cute?" she yelled, but Akane's window was closed, and the drapes were shut.  
"Bah," Ranma said as she dragged herself out of the water. "I bet she's a tomboy in every future."

{B-{=_

For anyone who wondered, descents and inversions come from the field of combinatorics. If you take an ordered set of numbers, and look at all the times a smaller number comes after a bigger one... well, I doubt you want the details. E-mail me if you do.  
I can't believe such a big story came out of random net discussion.

Ross John McKenzie Jr.


End file.
